Dir: Noah Baumbach | US Drama 2025 132′
Few stars can carry a film in quite the same way as George Clooney with his beaming smile and clean cut features.
But no one can save this sentimental self-indulgent buddy movie, the latest social satire from Noah Baumbach, that outstays its welcome well before Clooney has left the set.
Clooney starred as a disillusioned pilot in Up in the Air (2009) but that was fifteen years ago. Jay Kelly sees him playing the same clueless character puffed up on his waning stardom, but totally unaware of his impending irrelevance in the scheme of things.
Adam Sandler is Ron, his long-suffering agent and buddy who calls him by the absurd almost derogatory nickname ‘Puppy’. There are endless flashbacks to Kelly’s youth as a golden star. But now even his teenage daughters (Riley Keough and Grace Edwards) have lost respect for the jaded actor, not to mention his ex-wife.
The plot revolves around Jay Kelly attending an Italian arts festival in the overused location of Tuscany. But his sole reason for going to Italy is to link up with his back-packing daughter on her trip round Europe. So against advice from Ron, Kelly ‘lowers’ himself in an attempt to appear ‘hip’ by taking the train. Cue endless histrionic fans requesting his autograph. Are we supposed to be starstruck too?. Pause for a yawn.
The past does comes back to haunt him: in the shape of a fellow actor (Billy Krudup) who lost out on a part when they both auditioned as newbies. And this all turns rather sinister as Krudup’s character appears to have serious personality issues. Naturally Kelly shrugs it all off and moves on.
But on and on it goes for over two hours with a torpid narrative revolving around flashbacks of endless trips down memory lane during the ‘good old days’. Eventually Clooney’s smile starts to slip with the tedious monotony and embarrassment of it all. @MeredithTaylor
IN UK CINEMAS 14 NOVEMBER | NETFLIX FROM 5 DECEMBER 2025