Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly” has a trailer.
This one will be headed to Venice, Telluride and NYFF in the coming weeks. It’s fast becoming one of the hotter titles of this year’s fall festival circuit.
“Jay Kelly” stars George Clooney as the titular character, an A-list movie icon in his sixties, who travels to a European film festival to accept a lifetime achievement award. What begins as a celebratory trip quickly evolves into something deeper. Along for the ride is his longtime manager Ron, played by Adam Sandler, as they embark on a journey across Europe that forces them to confront their issues together.
The film marks Baumbach’s fourth collaboration with Netflix, following “The Meyerowitz Stories,” “Marriage Story,” and “White Noise.” He co-wrote the script with Emily Mortimer, who also appears in the film. The ensemble cast includes Laura Dern, Greta Gerwig, Billy Crudup, Riley Keough, Patrick Wilson, Stacy Keach, Eve Hewson, Jim Broadbent, Alba Rohrwacher, and others. Nicholas Britell (“Succession”) composed the score, while Oscar-winner Linus Sandgren handles cinematography.
Baumbach recently told Vanity Fair that “Jay Kelly” made him fall back in love with cinema after the $150M-costing “White Noise” debacle left him unsure of his place, additionally crediting his work with real-life partner Gerwig on “Barbie” as the catalyst for reinvigorating his inner artist.
Baumbach is the writer-director behind indie classics “The Squid and the Whale” and “Frances Ha.” His “Marriage Story” (2019) also earned multiple Oscar noms. Sandler previously teamed up with the filmmaker on “The Meyerowitz Stories.” Clooney has never worked with either of them.
“Jay Kelly,” backed by Netflix, is scheduled for a limited theatrical run beginning November 14 before landing on the streamer December 5, a rollout clearly designed with Oscars in mind.
Criterion's December lineup has some great additions to the library, but the title that jumped out at me is Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man," which officially joins the Collection on December 8.