Venice Film Festival, Film Review: Jay Kelly

If life were a film set, one might have the chance to shoot a new scene, change the ending, or alter many of the sequences experienced—much like in Jay's (George Clooney) concluding line, who, now gripped by regret, can only cling to the friendship of his manager Ron (Adam Sandler). The narrative often draws comparisons between the fiction of the set and real life, with the cinema hero—the last true star of a now-bygone Hollywood—being diminished in his private life and through difficult relationships with his two daughters.

Nostalgia, regret, and guilt form the backdrop and driving force of the plot. The direction fully and profoundly expresses the protagonist's identity crisis, allowing viewers to grasp the alternation between what was true in fiction and what he would have wanted to be in reality.

A week before filming begins on a new project, after meeting an old friend, Jay decides to journey to Europe to attend a tribute in his honor. Everyone abandons him along the way, some tired of his eccentricities, and in the end, he remains alone with his manager and his audience. George Clooney and Adam Sandler deliver convincing performances.