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JAY KELLY – Nicholas Britell

December 3, 2025 Leave a comment

Original Review by Jonathan Broxton

If there’s one thing Hollywood loves, it’s movies about Hollywood. From Singin’ in the Rain to The Artist, Sunset Boulevard to La-La Land, to recent TV shows like The Studio, any time a filmmaker makes a movie about Tinseltown itself, the industry tends to fall over itself to praise it. Such is the case with director Noah Baumbach’s new film Jay Kelly, which is a self-critical, satirical, but also warm-hearted and nostalgic look at the life of a major movie star suffering an existential crisis. George Clooney plays Kelly almost like a weird reflection of himself; a lantern-jawed ageing matinee idol who has had enormous success on the big screen, but has a difficult personal life – he is mostly estranged from his daughters, has no real friends, has unresolved issues and regrets in his past, and doesn’t see his assistants and managers as actual people with lives of their own, despite them mostly idolizing him. When he is asked to attend a film festival in Italy to receive a lifetime achievement award, Kelly takes the opportunity to try to reconnect with his family, rekindle his personal and professional life, and overcome his anxieties – but not everything will go to plan. Read more…