- Jay Kelly follows a movie star looking back on his life.
- While he became very successful and famous as an actor, Jay made major mistakes in his personal life that he's attempting to come to terms with.
- Read on to learn more about the movie, but beware: Spoilers ahead.
Jay Kelly stars George Clooney as a 60-something movie star (sounds about right), who goes on a journey of self-discovery while going on a literal journey through Europe. But this isn’t an Eat Pray Love situation. Instead, Jay tries to follow his younger daughter, Daisy (Grace Edwards), on a pre-college trip, but it doesn’t exactly go to plan.
Jay Kelly hit theaters on November 14 and premieres on Netflix December 5. The Noah Baumbach film is about Jay’s life in the present and the past and the regrets he has. If you’ve watched it, you already know that and don’t have to worry about the spoilers that lie ahead. To find out what happens at the end of Jay Kelly, keep reading.
First, a brief summary
To keep it as short as possible—go watch the movie, y’all!—after wrapping a film, Jay expects to spend time with his daughter, Grace, before she goes to college. But, he finds out she’s about to leave for Europe with friends. So, Jay decides to follow her on her trip under the guise that he is going for work commitments. For instance, he actually has been asked to accept a tribute at an Italian film festival.
Jay “runs into” his daughter in France, but she’s bothered by the surprise and doesn’t want him tagging along. By the way, this whole thing about him getting time with Daisy is motivated partially because he was an absentee father to his older daughter, Jessica (Riley Keough).
Also—and very important to the story—is the fact that Jay’s entourage goes with him on the trip. Multiple members of his team leave during the journey, realizing that Jay expects too much of them, but his manager, Ron (Adam Sandler), sticks around. While following him around Europe, Ron helps Jay through a situation in which a former acting school friend, Timothy (Billy Crudup), is attempting to sue him for assault, after Timothy initiated a fight with him at a bar.
What happens with Timothy's lawsuit?
Let's get this out of the way first. Jay's team figure out a way to get Timothy to drop the complaint by digging into a legal charge from Timothy's past and using that as leverage.
Where does Jay end up?
After being ditched by Daisy, Jay continues on to receive the lifetime tribute in Tuscany. Without any other family available to attend, Jay invites his father (Stacy Keach), with whom he has a strained relationship. His father sticks around for a while, but ends up leaving before the actual tribute after he falls ill.
The only person remaining to support Jay is Ron. Over the course of the movie, it becomes clear that both men aren’t quite sure where their relationship lies in the area between client-manager and friends. This is especially the case on Ron’s end, since Jay literally has to pay him to be around.
Ron attempts to leave before the tribute, too, but Jay runs after his car. Ron tells him that he won’t work with him anymore, but agrees to go to the tribute with him. As a montage of scenes from Jay’s movies plays, Ron holds Jay’s hand in support.
What happens with Jessica?
Another major relationship in the movie is the one Jay has with his older daughter, Jessica. In a flashback, we see a time that she surprised Jay with a therapy session. She revealed that she never really felt like he cared about her, because if he did, he would have made time to be with her even if it affected his career.
During a scene toward the end of the movie, Jay—lost in a forest and feeling like he has no one—calls Jessica and invites her to come to the tribute. She turns him down, still hurt about how he wouldn’t hear her out at the therapy session. It's clear she's reached a place of acceptance that Jay is the way he is, but Jay is regretful over this aspect of himself.
There’s a significant final line
The movie begins with Jay filming the final scene for a movie. After giving his monologue, he asks for another take.
Jay Kelly ends similarly. While watching the montage of his work at the tribute, he tears up and imagines that people from his life are around him, sitting in the crowd. Then, looking directly in the camera, he says, "Can we go again?" Obviously, this time it’s about his actual life. Oof!
