Noah Baumbach loves to find sympathy in unsympathetic subjects—the awkward title character of Greenberg, the caustic writer played by Nicole Kidman in Margot at the Wedding, the bitter divorced couple of Marriage Story. But he’s usually done it by mixing in plenty of bitter with just a touch of sweet. For his new movie, Jay Kelly, that formula is reversed in service of another character who might struggle to earn the viewer’s pity: a bored, aging movie star worried that he’s lived life the wrong way. It’s hard to know why anyone should feel a pang of understanding for Jay Kelly (played by George Clooney), but Baumbach relishes the challenge.
Jay Kelly is Baumbach’s fourth movie in a row that will be released to Netflix, with a short theatrical release.
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