David Farnor | On 13, Dec 2025

Director: Noah Baumbach
Cast: George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, Riley Keough, Grave Edwards, Billy Crudup
Certificate: 15

“Can we go again? I’d like another one.” Those are the words of veteran A-lister Jay Kelly (George Clooney) as he wraps up a take on the set of his latest movie. A Hollywood icon played by a Hollywood icon in a film about a Hollywood icon looking back on his career as a Hollywood icon? To say that Jay Kelly is conventional is an understatement – it’s precisely the kind of self-addressed love letter that the movie industry loves to write. That it hails from Noah Baumbach, one of the sharpest writer-directors working today, is something of a surprise. Years after his debut The Squid and the Whale introduced his signature brand of prickly honesty and moving vulnerability, this appears to be his safest project to date. Appearances, of course, can be misleading.

We first meet Jay as he’s in the greying years of his on-screen life – he’s invited to a tribute evening at a film festival, something that he baulks at, despite promises from his manager, Ron (Adam Sandler), that he’ll attend. When an old mentor (Jim Broadbent) who first spotted his talent passes away, Jay finds himself starting to reflect on what exactly his legacy is – it certainly doesn’t seem to be as a father, with his oldest daughter (Riley Keough) firmly estranged and his youngest (Grave Edwards) about to head to college with no intention of spending her last summer at home with her dad.

So far, so familiar, and the film’s biggest challenge is getting us to invest emotionally in the midlife crisis of a successful, wealthy workaholic – compared, say, to The Artist, there’s a lack of spark or romance to really bring Jay’s arc to life. Baumbach pulls some beautiful flashbacks together, gliding seamlessly from present-day scenes into sets built out of past memories and regrets, but they rarely surprise or shock, as the story sticks to the expected beats like a biopic of a real-like figure afraid to deviate from the norm.

If the script – co-written with Emily Mortimer – lacks Baumbach’s skewering humour, though, it doesn’t shy away from vulnerability. The director draws some stunning turns from his cast, who give some heft to what might have been a humdrum series of scenarios. Billy Crudup is as brilliant as you’d expect as a bitter old friend of Jay’s, Eve Hewson shines briefly as a fleeting fling in Jay’s youth, and Riley Keough is heart-wrenching as she writes a letter to her absent dad from her 10-year-old self at the behest of her therapist (Josh Hamilton). Stacy Keach is having a ball as Jay’s unimpressed – and also estranged – father, while Patrick Wilson is believably earnest as Ben, a fellow actor who is also a client of Jay’s manager, but is always second on Ron’s call list.

The feeling of living permanently in Jay’s shadow is crystallised by Adam Sandler as Ron, who frequently puts his own life on hold to make time for his client’s whims. He’s faithful to a fault, the only constant in Jay’s life apart from the cheesecake that amusingly turns up everywhere Jay goes, because he once said he liked it. Sandler is brilliant as a friend who is at once loyal and selfless yet also a put-upon employee, and his interactions with Jay are the most frank and moving in the film. Laura Dern, meanwhile, brings weight to a seemingly slight part as Liz, Jay’s publicist, whose own life has been equally dominated by her boss.

The main life that’s been consumed by Jay’s career, though, is undoubtedly his own. George Clooney is disarming as the suave, charismatic actor who is only just beginning to realise he’s been playing the part of himself for years. An inspired use of Clooney’s own back catalogue anchors his tangible and moving sense of regret, as he weighs up what defines his life – his work, his relationships or his reputation.

And yet the film doesn’t go far enough in either taking us behind the scenes of Kelly’s breakdown or questioning an industry that it both admonishes and admires. A playful diversion on a train gives us a glimpse of the fun heights this drama could have reached in unpicking the many sides of Jay’s persona, but the film is content to linger close to a bathroom mirror as Jay quietly repeats his own name to himself until it either takes on new significance or loses all meaning. The result doesn’t take us anywhere new, but, thanks to the committed cast, remains charmingly old-fashioned. Can he go again? You may not need a repeat trip, but this handsomely made showcase for a rarely better George Clooney is well worth journeying with once.

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