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One minute a man is a hot young movie star; the next, he’s a silver fox. Who knows where the time goes? There are lots of movies about aging Hollywood actresses—Sunset Boulevard and All About Eve are prime examples—but somehow we’re supposed to assume that growing older doesn’t faze men as much. A woman generally loses some of her allure as she ages; it’s easier for a man to ease into a state of sexy gravitas. That’s true of both George Clooney and the George Clooney-like character he plays in Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly, premiering at the Venice Film Festival. You couldn’t find a more fitting performer for this story of a ragingly successful actor who, after an encounter with an old friend that begins with fond reminiscing and ends in a fistfight, reconsiders everything he’s done with his life. The idea by itself is refreshing, and it gives Clooney lots to work with: as Jay, he gets to razzle-dazzle one minute—anytime he’s on set, or in a crowd—and brood over his many mistakes the next. Clooney can do it all.
Yet there’s something strangely inert about Jay Kelly. Baumbach co-wrote the script with Emily Mortimer, a marvelous actor herself, who also shows up here in just a few brief scenes. There’s nothing overtly dislikable about the film, and there are a handful of scenes that are beautifully written, acted, and directed. But Jay Kelly feels more sentimental than truly thoughtful, particularly in the motif that resounds like a clanging bell in Jay’s brain: Why didn’t I spend more time with my kids? Jay has two, an older daughter (Riley Keough) who harbors bitterness toward her her father, and a younger one (Grace Edwards) who understands him better, though she’s just about to go off to college. His only true friend is the guy who, the movie reminds us several times, gets a 15% cut of everything he earns, his manager Ron (played, superbly, by Adam Sandler). And is that really a friend at all? Both he and Ron confront that…
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