Jay Kelly (2025) review

Following an unfortunate encounter with former roommate Timothy Galligan (Billy Crudup) that turns into a fistfight in a parking lot - because Tim never found success as an actor in Hollywood - top-tier film star Jay Kelly (George Clooney) starts to re-assess his extremely successful thirty-five-year career, and then impulsively decides to take a trip across the Pond - along with his assistant Ron Sukenick (Adam Sandler) and publicist Liz (Laura Dern) - to keep watch over his daughter Daisy (Grace Edwards) and attend a tribute they're hosting for him in Tuscany.  Although the cast is fantastic, with Clooney as the ideal choice for an international screen icon and Sandler carefully balancing his function as both "manager" and "friend," there are problems with the story: Europe is (once again) turned into a "zone of enlightenment" (where Americans "heal themselves"), Clooney's too inherently kind to have botched up his personal life so severely, his character's "reflective" moments lack dramatic weight and all the movie amounts to, when broken down, is there's a "burden" to being wealthy and famous (which also means Jay can "use" people every time it's convenient for him, since he's isolated from having to do "real work" for a living).  It seems to suggest the "proper" route on the quest for fame is to be like Patrick Wilson's Ben Alcock, who does not quite reach the "heights" of Kelly and has a large entourage of family and friends.  However, it's reasonable to assume - without naming names - that there are plenty of non-A-list talents who are nightmares to be around....