“All my memories are movies,” Jay Kelly (George Clooney) — the movie star in question — says at one point. So, it’s high time he made some new ones. When Jay embarks on an impromptu European vacation, it leads him down a path full of regrets, reminiscences, and lots and lots of cheesecake. “This is a story of him having to come to terms with other parts of his life besides the part that he’s been very successful at,” Clooney (you might recognize him from Ocean’s 11, The Descendants, and a few other titles) tells Netflix. “He’s coming to terms with the idea that maybe he hasn’t been such a great friend or father. He has just been really good at being a movie star.”
Sandler sees his performance as a way to pay tribute to the many people who have given up their own time and energy to help his career. “You’re Jay Kelly, but I’m Jay Kelly too,” Ron tells his boss in the trailer.
“I know many Rons,” Sandler tells Netflix. “I’ve met a lot of nice people along the way who have helped me, thought of me, and put stuff aside in their lives to make sure that mine was going smoothly when I needed them.”
As for Clooney, he’s grateful that his life has had a very different arc than Jay Kelly’s. “This character has a lot more regrets than I would have, because, luckily for me, fame came much later in my life,” says Clooney, who was 33 when he landed his breakout role on ER. “I got to figure out how to live life before I figured out how to be famous, and I don’t think this character did.”
Now he’ll have to. Jay Kelly hits select theaters on Nov. 14 and Netflix on Dec. 5.
