This wasn’t intended to be strictly biographical. For one, Brad Pitt was originally attached, only to drop out before production began. Now, with eventual lead, George Clooney, recently acquiring French citizenship with his family, one can’t ignore the parallelisms. 

Jay Kelly is essentially Clooney playing Clooney, which isn’t bad in premise. This is quite easily his most self-referential role yet, whether or not that was the original intent. Prior to this, the only other time he played an actor was in the 80s slasher, Return to Horror High. Much like that ill-fated character, he himself was just starting. It was his second movie, released seven years before E.R. At this juncture, however, it’s only apt that he played a veteran. Unsurprisingly, he goes all in.

This is Noah Baumbach’s first directorial feature since 2019’s Marriage Story and first script since 2023’s Barbie, which he co-wrote with wife Greta Gerwig (she plays a role here). Existential Barbie-isms still abound, except here, Baumbach teamed up with actress Emily Mortimer in her first writing credit. That’s her playing Kelly’s stylist in the opening sequences.

This dramedy unfolds with the titular actor questioning life when his mentor figure, director Peter Schneider (Jim Broadbent), passes away. But when a public scuffle with fellow actor and long-time friend Tim Galligan (Billy Crudup) escalates into a PR nightmare, he spirals even further. That’s when he impulsively decides to follow his daughter’s lead and books a trip to Europe, thus putting his next movie on hold. 

The film picks up with Kelly arriving in Paris with his loyal entourage. There’s his publicist Liz, played by Laura Dern, reunited with Baumbach since her Oscar win, and manager Ron Sukenick, played by Adam Sandler. Much as they have pressing matters back home, they have no choice but to ride with Kelly’s whims. Suddenly, they find themselves boarding a train to Italy, while dealing with Kelly’s mess back home.  

It’s all quasi-Eat Pray Love, but with a hotshot celebrity as the protagonist and with a posse in tow. Along the way, Kelly realizes what his global fame means to him, through his encounters with starstruck passengers, with one sequence forcing his heroics to go from reel to real. Meanwhile, clues about his familial bonds surface either through flashback or through chance encounters that feel almost contrived.   

It’s nothing we haven’t seen before, quite frankly. And this film practically utilizes everything in the “journey-to-self-discovery” playbook. Luckily, it’s the sharp writing and 90s throwback of an A-List cast that make this piece worthwhile. Special props go to Sandler, who was slated in this project since Day One and now having his finest hour since 2020’s Uncut Gems. 

This is far from definitive Hollywood commentary. On the contrary, it plays more like a Clooney retrospective, seeing how the character’s tribute montage utilizes clips from the real life actor’s actual films. But again, one can never go wrong with sincere performances. They prevent Jay Kelly from heading towards self-indulgent territory and still make it a poignant piece.