"You're never alone."
"Really? I think I'm always alone."
George Clooney and director Noah Baumbach give us mere civilians a tour of the gilded cage in this breezy and profound Hollywood satire.
To his fans looking up at the big screen, actor Jay Kelly (Clooney) appears to have it all. But what's the point in success if you've no loved ones to celebrate it with, or, worse, you have loved ones, but they're not interested in celebrating with you?
Jay is estranged from his eldest daughter, Jessica (Riley Keough), and the younger one, Daisy (Grace Edwards), is going to Europe with her pals for the summer. But what better way to treat her than to turn up in Paris unannounced? Because, well, it's all about what Jay wants.
And so, the A-lister and his entourage - endlessly patient manager Ron (Adam Sandler), perma-hassled publicist Liz (Laura Dern), and more - pack up to head across the Atlantic on a private jet. This is bound to work out...
Back in 2012, Clooney gave a powerful interview to The Hollywood Reporter where he admitted that his life wasn't all it was cracked up to be. "Anyone would be lying if they said they didn't get lonely at times," he told Stephen Galloway. "The loneliest you will get is in the most public of arenas. You will go to a place and end up in the smallest compartment possible, because it's a distraction to everybody, and you end up not getting to enjoy it like everyone else."
Seen through that lens, he's the perfect man to play Jay Kelly - and Jay Kelly is Clooney's best work since Gravity.
The camera loves Clooney more than ever, and he uses his natural charm to the max as Jay tries to get his own way. Is Jay a good guy underneath it all? Well, he's likeable, but his career is based on a moment of shameless opportunism when a friend was hurting; he has let his girls down time and time again, and when the man who gave Jay his big break came looking for help, Jay pulled the ladder up - with a smile. Still, we hope he finds some contentment outside of his comfort zone.
Written with Clooney in mind, this is an old-fashioned redemption story from director Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale, Mistress America, Marriage Story) and his cast member co-writer Emily Mortimer - doing a nixer here as Jay's stylist, Candy - but it's so watchable that even some clunky metaphors (seeing the forest for the trees, having your cake and eating it, etc) don't kill the vibe. As Jay's Euro odyssey continues, his retinue disappears until it's only him and the superglued Ron. It's a great performance by Sandler, and he gets all his best scenes in the last 20-odd minutes.
In an era of best-life braggadocio, there are lessons here for us all - and parents more than most. If you're not going to see Jay Kelly in the cinema, save it for Christmas. It's that kind of film, and it's on Netflix from 5 December.
