‘Jay Kelly’: George Clooney and Adam Sandler Tackle Movie Stardom in Noah Baumbach’s TIFF50 Centerpiece Premiere
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What happens when a star plays a version of himself? Clooney’s most vulnerable role yet headlines TIFF’s Centerpiece slate
In Jay Kelly, George Clooney plays a movie star confronting the limits of his own fame. The film, which sees Clooney teaming up with Adam Sandler and director Noah Baumbach, blends autobiography and fiction into a rich meditation on aging, relevance, and the messy personal truths behind public personas. Now, Jay Kelly is set to make its North American debut as a Centerpiece selection at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, following a world premiere in Venice.
Noah Baumbach returns to the fall festival circuit with Jay Kelly, an introspective Hollywood dramedy that doubles as a poignant character study and a sly industry satire. Premiering at the Venice Film Festival and selected as a Centerpiece highlight at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Jay Kelly stars George Clooney in one of his most self-aware performances to date and Adam Sandler in a role that quietly cements his place among the most empathetic actors working today.
The film, co-written by Baumbach and Emily Mortimer in her feature debut, is both a meditation on the passage of time and a love letter to cinema. It follows Clooney as Jay Kelly, a mega-famous actor in his sixties reckoning with the fragility of legacy, aging fame, and the echoes of unresolved regrets. Adam Sandler plays Ron, Jay’s steadfast manager and emotional anchor, who accompanies him on a whirlwind journey through Europe for a prestigious career tribute.
Exclusive First Look Courtesy of Vanity Fair:
Structured like a road movie, the narrative roams across Italian landscapes and memory-laden flashbacks. Jay’s emotional arc is tethered to his relationships with his daughters (Grace Edwards and Riley Keough), his late mentor (Jim Broadbent), and a former acting-school rival (Billy Crudup) whose failure serves as a dark mirror to Jay’s success. As Jay nears his destination—a lifetime achievement award at a Tuscany-set film festival—the ghosts of his past accompany every step.
Baumbach conceived the project in the wake of his polarizing 2022 feature White Noise, a period of creative uncertainty that led him to question his love for filmmaking. It was during this lull that he formed a new partnership with Mortimer, whose lived industry experience and sharp, empathetic voice helped reframe his perspective. “It’s about falling back in love with what you do, and falling back in love with yourself,” Baumbach said in a recent interview.
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Visually, the film achieves a seamless transition between past and present, thanks to Oscar-winner Linus Sandgren (La La Land), who uses practical sets and warm, textured lighting to capture the fluidity of memory. A single take might carry Clooney from present tension to youthful sorrow and back again, merging performance and persona into one poignant, lived-in moment.
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Clooney delivers what may be his most vulnerable performance ever, stripping away his signature charm to reveal a haunted, reflective version of himself. Critics have long debated whether Clooney simply plays himself in films—Jay Kelly leans into that notion and spins it into something both meta and moving. “Have you ever tried playing yourself?” Jay asks at one point. “It’s hard to do.”
Sandler, too, shines. As Ron, he is the film’s compassionate center—a man juggling his own personal life with the emotional labor of managing a fading star. Sandler’s off-screen reputation for loyalty and warmth informs his performance with depth, turning the manager-character archetype into a lived-in, human presence. Clooney himself praised Sandler’s performance, telling Vanity Fair, “Don’t call him the Sand Man. He’s a beautiful, soulful actor.”
The cast is rounded out by Laura Dern as Jay’s publicist, Stacy Keach as his domineering father, Isla Fisher in a tender supporting role, and a brief but explosive cameo from Billy Crudup. Together, they paint a richly observed portrait of the people orbiting a legend—each with their own stake in his myth and reality.
Beyond the cast, what makes Jay Kelly special is its tonal precision. It’s melancholic without wallowing, funny without irony, and deeply personal without feeling indulgent. Mortimer’s voice adds nuance to Baumbach’s traditionally male-centered narrative, crafting something more tender and inclusive. Their script tips its hat to the psychological complexity of Hitchcock and the screwball sentiment of Preston Sturges while remaining firmly rooted in the present.
Clooney and Baumbach reportedly connected over their shared love for movies and the fragility of fame. In real life, Clooney had told the director years ago he’d love to collaborate, and Baumbach never forgot. That long-gestating bond anchors the film. “George really was like, ‘I’m here for you to work the way you feel we should work,’” Baumbach shared. The result is a film that resonates with the passage of time—personally, professionally, and artistically.
Jay Kelly isn’t just a comeback for its characters—it’s a resurgence for Baumbach himself. After a rough patch with White Noise, he’s made a film that’s deceptively simple and sneakily profound. TIFF programmers call it one of the festival’s most anticipated Centerpiece entries, and its world premiere at Venice positions it as an awards season contender.
In a year crowded with loud, attention-grabbing titles, Jay Kelly arrives as a soft-spoken masterpiece. It’s about aging with dignity, confronting your past, and rediscovering joy in the art of performance. In pulling back the curtain on fame, it offers something rare: a story that embraces vulnerability not as weakness, but as a form of grace.
Jay Kelly debuts its World Premiere at Venice 82
And will screen as part of TIFF’s prestigious Centerpiece Program this September.
its U.S. theatrical release on November 14, 2025
streaming via Netflix beginning December 5.
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