‘Jay Kelly’: George Clooney’s reflective star turn — cast, release, and the early verdict

Aging, fame, and the cost of doing everything “right” collide in Jay Kelly, a new comedy-drama centered on a movie star grappling with legacy, family, and the friends he’s left behind. The film pairs a restrained, wry tone with moments of sting, using a European interlude and an unexpected funeral to force its title character to take stock. It’s an actor’s showcase that doubles as a look at the machinery of celebrity—and how it corrodes and flatters in equal measure.

What is Jay Kelly about?

The story follows Jay, a globally recognizable leading man, who plans a quiet getaway with his college-bound daughter only to be yanked into a reunion spiral: a mentor’s death, a resurfaced rival, and a trail of half-mended relationships. What starts as a victory lap becomes an uncomfortable audit—of roles taken, favors refused, and friendships abandoned when fame became a full-time job. The film lets scenes breathe: train cars, hotel lounges, and after-hours bars double as confessionals where small slights and big regrets surface. Humor bubbles up through Jay’s self-defense mechanisms; the melancholy lands when those defenses stop working.

Jay Kelly cast: who plays whom

• George Clooney — Jay Kelly, the actor who can’t quite outrun his own myth

• Adam Sandler — Ron Sukenick, the longtime manager and weary truth-teller

• Laura Dern — Liz, an anchor from Jay’s past who refuses to be star-struck

• Billy Crudup — Timothy, a onetime friend whose grievances still glow hot

• Greta Gerwig, Isla Fisher, Riley Keough, Patrick Wilson, Jim Broadbent, Louis Partridge, Alba Rohrwacher, Patsy Ferran — key figures across Jay’s professional and personal orbit

• A brief meta flourish places the director inside a “film-within-the-film,” nudged there, the story suggests, by Clooney’s irresistible on-set persuasion

Behind the camera, the production leans on pedigreed collaborators: screenplay by Noah Baumbach and Emily Mortimer, cinematography by Linus Sandgren on 35mm, and a score by Nicholas Britell that glides between urbane and rueful.

Release date, runtime, and where to watch

• Runtime: ~132 minutes

• Festival circuit: Bowed in late August in European competition, then played major fall showcases in New York and London.

• General roll-out: Limited theatrical play in mid-November, followed by a global streaming premiere on December 5, 2025 on a major platform. Availability may vary by region.

Early reviews for Jay Kelly

Initial reactions frame Jay Kelly as warmly received to mixed-positive, with praise for its controlled tempo, ensemble chemistry, and how it uses Clooney’s public persona without turning him into a punchline. Viewers highlight:

• Clooney’s calibration: charismatic but frayed at the edges; a star playing a star while allowing unflattering angles

• Sandler’s underplay: a steady pulse of empathy and exasperation that grounds the movie

• Dern and Crudup’s volatility: old wounds turned into crackling, dialogue-driven confrontations

• Tone management: a gentle tragicomedy—more rueful smile than belly laugh—with grace notes of genuine ache

Skeptics point to a middle stretch that meanders and a final movement that resolves a shade too neatly, softening the sting of earlier revelations. Even so, many find the film’s reflective mood and humane performances sneakily affecting.

Themes, takeaways, and who will like it

• Fame as funhouse mirror: The film plays with the gap between public image and private exhaustion, asking whether long careers inevitably calcify into self-parody—or can still surprise.

• Mentorship and debts owed: Jay’s failure to show up for the people who launched him becomes the moral engine; a funeral sequence reframes his “nicest-guy-in-the-room” aura.

• Parents and almost-grown kids: The father-daughter thread is tender, unsentimental, and central to the movie landing its final beat.

If you gravitate toward talky, actor-forward dramedies, you’re squarely in the target audience. Fans of modern midlife reckonings—stories that trade plot twists for behavioral reveals—will find plenty to chew on.

Quick facts: Jay Kelly at a glance

• Genre: Comedy-drama (character study)

• Lead duo: George Clooney, Adam Sandler

• Notable supporting turns: Laura Dern, Billy Crudup, Jim Broadbent, Riley Keough, Greta Gerwig, Isla Fisher

• Running time: About 2 hours 12 minutes

• Current status: Streaming now worldwide; select theaters may still have engagements

Jay Kelly isn’t a takedown of stardom so much as a quiet self-reckoning powered by a movie star willing to let some varnish peel off. It’s sleekly mounted, superbly acted, and at its best when it lets regret sit in the room without a joke to sweep it away. For viewers in the mood for a reflective, adult-skewing watch, this is one to queue up.