Jay Kelly
Introduction
The blur in the life of Jay Kelly (George Clooney) in the new English Netflix film by the same name, is visible in its cold open that features a film set. In what is a nod to the cold open of Luck By Chance (2009), you are witness to Jay ‘performing’ a scene to perfection, almost too staged for his own confort even while requesting the director for another take. Such has been the life of Jay, from one film set to another and from one cut to another, so much so that the blur is evident in his personal life too. It is ironic on how you witness a sense of distance between Jay and his younger daughter Daisy (Grace Edwards), even as the latter is about to head to Europe with her boyfriend without wanting her father to tag along. It does tell you a thing or two about Jay and the price that he has had to pay for his fame, leaving him no real time for his family – in particularly his daughters for whom he has missed a major part of their formative years. But in the process of stardom, the lines are so blurred that there isn’t a demarcation on when he stops performing while consistently catering to the starry image that he has now become a slave to.
Story & Screenplay
Written by Noah Baumbach and Emily Mortimer, the strongest aspect of the film Jay Kelly remains its characterization and the inherent character dynamics in play. For instance, the characters of Ron (Adam Sandler) – Jay’s Manager, and Liz (Laura Dern) – Jay’s publicist remain miniscule versions of Jay himself, almost being cyclic clones themselves in missing out on spending time with their respective families. In a scene, you witness Liz and Ron confide in each other on how their own relationship was affected in the wake of Jay’s problems while respectively having to suffer similar fates with their families. For Liz, it is the time she misses out with her daughter, and how Ron, it is pretty much the same – having to skip a tennis match with his daughter, and leaving his anxiety-driven son at the behest of his already busy wife. All of it while the equation for Jay continues to remain transactional.
In many ways, the template of the drama here oscillates between a road movie leading on the path of realisation, and a journey internal to Jay – who chooses to take a trip to Europe almost as a break in routine from his busy dreamy life. But even in its subtext, there remains a deep sense of guilt that transpires from a couple of characters – namely Schneider (Jim Broadbent) who remained the first director to give him a break as a leading man, and Tim (Timothy Galligan), his friend from drama school who happened to lose out on the same opportunity. The fight with the latter gives Jay a chance to pause and reflect on his ethics of acting, even while continuing to play the extention of his characters in real life too. The narcissistic trait of Jay here cannot be ignored either – given how he wishes to use the Euro trip just as a medium to attend an award ceremony at Tuscany, with everything else – including his aspiration to spend time with his daughters being a secondary measure.
In the same breath, Jay has an undeniable charm that has invariably made him popular and at the pinnacle of stardom here. His character brief remains a nod to Fellini’s 8 1/5 (1963) or even Satyajit Ray’s Nayak (1966), although the mood remains increasingly light, fluffy and frothy. The parallels to his personality can be drawn from the analogy of the number of followers on social media, wherein the reality remains that not all of them convert into theatrical footfalls. So in a scene wherein you spot Jay inviting a bunch of strangers in a train to his award ceremony in Tuscany, probably very few or even nobody would actually have turned up. The subtext here for Jay remains on how love is momentary and tagged with an expiry date from strangers, whereas the true essence of love can only be felt by people around him. And yet, the question remains on whether it is all but too late?
The humourous angle of the drama often cuts through the emotional tit-bits in the narrative. For instance, the hilarious sequence involving Jay running behind a thief only to nab him gives him a real sense of validation in being a real-life hero, something that is met with a rapturous applause by a bunch of strangers. And yet, the emotional bits involving his daughters don’t give him that validation. In a scene, you see Jay intruding his daughter Daisy’s privacy, only for the latter to be uncomfortable and annoyed in a sharp contrast to her boyfriend who is in awe of Jay’s persona. Daisy’s boyfriend looks at Jay from his onscreen image, while Daisy knows him as a neglecting father. Likewise, even Jay’s elder daughter Jessica (Riley Keough) maintains distance with Jay, only allowing her son’s teacher to take an autograph. The reason was simple – Jessica’s councelling session was cut short by Jay who chose to walkout given how there wasn’t much for him to do. Emotional availability was also a feature that was blurred in the stardom for Jay.
There is a bit of indulgence in the drama, particularly while focusing on the fluff that slightly deviates from the core emotions in the drama. But thankfully, these moments are few while the writers get the drama back on track with respect to the family dynamics of Jay involving his father. Jay deliberately wishes his father to attend his awards ceremony along with his daughters, but ultimately, all he has for company is Ron – someone who Jay has viewed as a transactional person who would take home fifteen percent of his revenue. The same isn’t true for Ron who believes that his friendship with Jay is truly strong, something that isn’t reciprocated by Jay. Hence for Jay, it is kind of ironic that he has only Ron by his side at the end – someone whom he had previously fired after being falsely influenced by his peer, even while secretly wishing for his family to be beside him on his big night.
The alternating visuals that Jay witnessing onscreen is heartfelt but a reminder on what his life could have been if he hadn’t blindly participated in the rat race for success – an emotion that is mixed with grief and regret while questioning his own identity of other ‘real-life’ roles that he failed at. Hence, the line of wanting to start over again, comes with a resentment that in turn is the price of his fame and stardom. The screenplay is presented as a dark comedy but is also pretty poignant in many ways.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are witty and laced with traces of humour while also accounting for the deeper emotions in play at critical junctures of the drama. The BGM almost denotes a fluffy outlook to the drama, almost accounting for the ‘fake’ onscreen persona of Jay as a means of how he chooses to look at the rest of the world. And that remained the spirit of the drama for me. The cinematography compliments this exact same emotion with a burst of colours that are bold, almost denoting the refined ‘fakeness’ employed by Jay. The editing pattern could have been creatively better, given how some crisp transition shots cutaway into a flashback sequence for Jay, as opposed to staying in the moment. Given how a few events were already established through the lines, the flashbacks weren’t always needed, something that added only crucial minutes to the drama.
Director Noah Baumbach has a leisurely style of filmmaking while choosing to focus on the subtext to drive home his point. This particular trait of his does make the drama a niche in many ways, given how the onus lies on the viewers to examine the character of Jay Kelly based on their individual understanding. In that sense, the approach here remains cerebral too with its impact havinh the ability to last a little longer after its end credits role. Keeping that in mind, Noah does a wonderful job as a director in allowing the viewers to interpret the subtext here while creating a nuanced character study along the way.
Performances
The performances are excellent by the members of the cast. Patrick Wilson as Ben Alcock, Jim Broadbent as Peter Schneider and Stacy Keach as Jay’s father have their moments to shine. Riley Keough as Jessica and Grace Edwards as Daisy represent grief and neglect in the life of Jay, and both do come across as sincere performers with respect to their emotions in play. Laura Dern as Liz and Billy Crudup as Timothy leave a mark despite a limited screentime. Adam Sandler as Ron delivers a heartfelt performance as Jay’s man Friday, always being loyal and by his side without any acknowledgement in return. He is terrific to witness here. George Clooney as Jay Kelly delivers a resounding act as a superstar who falls prey to the hollowness of his stardom. He is charming and affable while breezing their his act and pausing at crucial emotional moments of grief and regret that add weight to his stellar performance. He is brilliant as ever here and the restrained synergy that he brings to the table is wonderful to witness here.
Conclusion
Jay Kelly is a hilarious and heartfelt commentary on fame, stardom, grief, regret, and identity packaged in a fascinating character study that may not always be perfect, but still accounts for a wonderful watch. Available on Netflix.