This review was first published on on August 28, 2025 out of the Venice International Film Festival. Jay Kelly is now streaming on Netflix.

George Clooney in real life probably isn’t all that much like Jay Kelly, the 60-something movie star he plays in Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly . For starters, he doesn’t have grown children he’s been neglecting for most of their lives, and he came up in the business in somewhat different fashion, through bit parts and TV work. But the role and the movie around it feel designed for Clooney anyway, not just in terms of his looks and his age but also in terms of how he seems to move through life, with a no-big-deal half-smile always across his face. The movie has absorbed its actor’s vibe. It looks great, and it ambles along pleasantly, rarely veering to

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