26 Years Online
••• The International Writers Magazine - Film Review

Jay Kelly Starring George Clooney & Adam Sandler Directed by Noah Baumbach Screenplay by Noah Baumbach and Emily Mortimer • Sam Hawksmoor review (Viewed in an actual cinema 12.2.25)

Charming, sad, very human, and totally engaging. George Clooney playing a successful movie star facing the guilt he’s feeling for neglecting his children and real relationships in the endless pursuit of relevance and fame. He tries to catch onto the role of being the father he meant to be but it's way too late. His girls have moved on.

Adam Sandler plays his manager and it too is a moment of realization for him that he’d devoted most of his life to making Jay Kelly successful without really living his own life.

There’s some amusing moments and poignant ones. The camera doesn't spare Clooney's ageing in close-ups and reveals just how big a team he needs to support his life. The supporting cast are great, and you come out of the theatre feeling better than you went in. That can’t be bad. Clooney is great to watch as always and Adam Sandler is pretty good too and one can't help feeling that this is a the kind of movie that Cary Grant should have made.
Highly recommend.

Trailer: On Netflix shortly and in cinemas this week. (Dec 2nd)

© Sam Hawksmoor - author of The Days After She Went Dancing

Share |