City Weekly · Film
Movie reviews: JAY KELLY, RENTAL FAMILY, TRAIN DREAMS
Emotional isolation defines the protagonists of three new features.
Jay Kelly I’d like to believe that writer/director Noah Baumbach is self-aware about his protagonist being a narcissistic asshole—but I just can’t quite get there. Baumbach seems far too sympathetic towards Jay Kelly (George Clooney), an aging movie star sparked by several coinciding events—the death of his filmmaking mentor (Jim Broadbent); an encounter with an old acting-school classmate (Billy Crudup); the impending departure for college of his youngest daughter, Daisy (Grace Edwards)—to reassess his life.
Unsurprisingly, Clooney brings his own movie-star charisma to bear effectively, at…
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