Jay Kelly (2025)

Noah Baumbach directs George Clooney, Adam Sandler and Laura Dern in this insider comedy drama where a Hollywood movie star heads to Europe when he realises nobody really cares about him as a person.

No idea who this is really for, apart from admirers of gloss. It isn’t particularly funny nor dramatic. The less famous speaking parts have an unctuous sitcom energy but I think Baumbach is reaching for Fellini. Just feels misguided, flat, overbearing. It was silly to watch this straight after Sentimental Value when they are set in the same milieu but the outcomes are so chalk and cheese. The train scene is particularly cringe. This is not how Europeans would react if someone that famous got on their carriage. Real life is very different from a film premiere.

4

Perfect Double Bill: Sentimental Value (2025)

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