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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am surprised how harsh people are being towards it here. I didn't find it groundbreaking but thought it was interesting.

To me it's a character study of the the sort of person who becomes a big movie star based on the ability to connect to people through film roles but in doing so can't be a real person off screen and therefore can't connect to friends and family and has a crap personal life. This was an interesting way to explore the concepts of identity and performance, and the way we "perform" our own identity.

For instance, a moment I really loved for being particularly though provoking is when Jay is on the train with Ron (Sandler) and Ron is starting to get annoyed with how Jay treats him, in part because of the stuff the Laura Dern character has said to Ron about how the relationship only goes one way. Jay wants some water and asks Ron to get it for him, and Ron asks why he can't get it himself, and you can tell Jay is instantly annoyed at the idea that this person he clearly believes exists to serve him won't do his bidding (even though later in the movie he will speak to Ron as a partner who created his career with him).

But then moments later, a man on the train steals a ladies purse and jumps off the train and runs away with it. Jay, over the objections of Ron and his security guy (who winds up getting hurt during the sequence) also jumps off the train, chases the man through a field and into a graveyard, wrestles him to the ground, and recovers the purse in a sequence that feels like a scripted scene from a movie. The other people on the train cheer and it becomes part of the Jay Kelly lore. Meanwhile his security guy winds up needing medical attention and Ron is off to the side kind of rolling his eyes at Jay's theatrics.

This was so interesting! Jay desperately wants to be revered and adored, he is addicted to having an audience cheering for him and will go to dramatic lengths to obtain it, both on screen and in his life. But he struggles with even basic elements of regular life and has no idea how to speak to his daughters or be a friend. He is famous for seeming like the best version of a regular guy, but he can't do any regular things.

I thought it was an interesting contemplation of what it means to be authentic, the ways we, culturally, sometimes elevate artifice over authenticity because it's shinier, and what is lost when a person focuses on performing for status instead of simply connecting with others through vulnerability. Also what it's like to have a loved one who is a likable narcissist, and how it feels to watch others adore them while you resent them for never being able to give you the authentic connection you needed.

It was not a groundbreaking movie but worth watching, especially for a streaming movie on Netflix.[/quote]

I watched the movie and like PP am baffled by the harsh opinions voiced here. I really enjoyed Jay Kelly. The film resonated in a way I had not expected. Oh, and PP: I appreciate your thoughtful post.

I think it is natural to get to a certain age, to pause and look back. It is part of the basic human experience to realize that there are more years behind you than ahead and to then reflect on your choices in life. The movie also examines those choices and does so by focusing on a movie star's career. We all question our choices to an extent, don't we? I read about it on these threads all the time. And the truth is, no one -- and I mean no one -- gets to have it all.

If one major life goal is obtained than there usually is another that was pushed aside a bit. Our choices have consequences and that to me is what this movie is trying to show. GC's character chooses to pursue his goal of being a classic movie star. He succeeds but he was not able to do so without making sacrifices. He is now at an age where he is questioning those sacrifices (and his oldest child is understandable holding him accountable for those choices). Life is all about choices and what seemed the right one at a certain period of our life may not seem so at another.

Oh, and I liked what the cheesecake represented. Yes, we all make choices in our life but also at the same time, those around us do not necessarily want us to change. GC's character once wanted for some reason cheesecake to be of his avail but now cannot even remember why! In other words, what may feel so important when we are younger is hard to even grasp many years later. People change.[/quote]

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