Following 2019’s Marriage Story and 2022’s White Noise, Noah Baumbach is back in competition at the Venice Film Festival, unveiling the world premiere of his Jay Kelly on Thursday. The comedy-drama received a 10-minute ovation as the lights came up near midnight in the Sala Grande.
George Clooney, who earlier today missed the film’s press conference owing to a bad sinus infection, made it to the gala red carpet and screening this evening. He stars alongside Adam Sandler and Laura Dern, both of which were also in attendance tonight.
In the film, Clooney’s titular character (“just an actor who got famous”) embarks on a whirlwind and unexpectedly profound journey through Europe with his manager, Ron (Sandler). Along the way, they are are forced to confront the choices they’ve made, the relationships with their loved ones and the legacies they’ll leave behind.
Sandler was also here on the Lido along with other members of the ensemble cast including Emily Mortimer (also the film’s co-screenwriter with Baumbach), Eve Hewson, Riley Keough, Billy Crudup, Laura Dern, Greta Gerwig and Alba Rohrwacher.
In his review, Deadline’s Pete Hammond praised the film that he says “effortlessly changes tone from light comic situations to poignant drama,” and one that “manages to find its own identity in the movies-about-movies genre, making it fresh, smart and quite welcome.”
As for Clooney, he says Clooney “does some of his best screen acting” in a film that “offers a tricky role for a genuine modern movie star to be convincing playing a genuine movie star.”
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Earlier today, Baumbach, who said he wrote the film specifically for Clooney, explained the motivation behind the story: “We discovered soon that if you make a movie about an actor, you’re making a movie about identity and performance and a search for self. Actors are always sort of trying to find themselves in a character, and where do I fit in this character, but it’s a character outside themselves. And I think that was something that we thought, well, this is what we’re all doing. Essentially, as we go through life, it’s trying to figure out the person I present, and is that the person I am, or am I somebody else?”
Sandler said he has always had an appreciation for his entourage, even before taking on this role. “I just know how hard they work and how difficult it is to hear my ups and downs in life and back me up no matter what, even when I could get loud at times. I was very excited to play a man who is devoted to somebody like George’s character and I admire everybody who does that, and how much it means to him.”
Netflix opens Jay Kelly in theaters November 14 before it pivots to the streaming service December 5. Producers are David Heyman, Amy Pascal and Baumbach.
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