(You may remember my post about seeing this movie but not being able to comment about it because I saw it on film and the film dirt and scratches kept taking me out of the movie. I managed to see it again – in a movie theater (digital projection))
“Jay Kelly” could be considered a type of “A Christmas Carol” for Hollywood. In this Hollywood version, fame replaces greed and stinginess, and family and friends replace the Christmas spirit. Jay Kelly (George Clooney) is a movie star who forsakes friends and family for fame until the day his family and friends comes back to haunt him.
It starts with an impressive extended shot on the set of Jays most recent movie. The shot shows several people including Candy – Jays hair and makeup person (Emily Mortimer, who co-wrote the movie with director Noah Baumbach), and Ron Sukenick – Jays manager (Adam Sandler), ending on a close-up of Jay Kelly filming his final scene. Once the scene is done, Jay goes home for a couple weeks of rest until starting his next movie.
He was hoping to spend some time with his daughter Daisy (Grace Edwards), but she has other plans. She’s going to Europe to travel with her friends over the summer. Right after she leaves, Ron tells Jay that his friend has passed away. Peter Schneider – the first director to give Jay an acting job (Jim Broadbent). Jay has a flashback to the last time he saw Peter. When he told him he couldn’t “attach” himself to Peter’s next movie although Peter needs him to so he can get the movie financed.
After that, Jay realizes how many people he has lost touch with while he searched for fame through flashback and new encounters. He runs into his old roommate Timothy (Billy Crudup) who has since “dreamed of punching you”. He’s lost touch with his older daughter Jessica (Riley Keough) and his father (Stacey Keach). He realizes that the only people he has left are his “friends” because he pays them like his manager, publicist (Laura Dern), hair stylist, costume designer, assistant, and his cheesecake. Literally a piece of cheesecake – at some point it was put into his contract that wherever he goes they provide him with a piece of cheesecake.
The next day, Jay decided to go to Europe. He says it’s to accept a tribute award (which he originally passed on) but it’s really to follow his daughter Daisy before he loses his connection to her. His whole entourage – enough people to fill 4 large cars – take a private plane to Europe.
On the other side of the story is manager Ron who would probably be considered the Jacob Marley of the story. Ron must drop everything whenever Jay needs him. He drops out of an important tennis match with his daughter Vivenne (I believe she’s played by Adam Sandler’s REAL daughter Sadie Sandler) to go with Jay to Europe. He reads books to his children and handles family emergencies with his wife Lois (Greta Gerwig) over the phone. He also sacrifices his relationship with other clients such as Ben Alcock (Patrick Wilson) because he must help Jay.
The acting from the entire cast is exceptional, especially George Clooney, Adam Sandler, and Billy Crudup – who practically steals the whole movie although he’s only in a couple short scenes. There are also some very funny moments such as every time his daughter Daisy tells him he’s never alone, his assistant gives him something.
The only thing I missed in the movie is Jays relationships. There is a brief mention of him stealing Timothy’s girlfriend, but you only see the woman for a couple seconds in one scene. He mentions the mother of his first daughter, but you never see her. There is only one scene in the movie where he talks about a woman shown in the movie – when he’s filming a love scene with Daphne (Eve Hewson) who (I believe) becomes his girlfriend or maybe his wife.
Also, if this really was a version of “A Christmas Carol”, there would be a “ghost of Christmas future”. It would be interesting to see how Jay ends up in the future.
Overall, the performances keep this movie interesting, and the jokes keep it entertaining (don’t forget the cheesecake).
Overall: 8 out of 10
LOS ANGELES FILM REVIEW 