Why Film and TV Should Stop Deifying the Super-Rich

It must be tough being a ridiculously handsome and rich Hollywood star. That's the message, at least, of Jay Kelly , the new comedy-drama from Noah Baumbach, director of The Squid and the Whale , Frances Ha , and Marriage Story .

The life of the film's rich and handsome title character (played by George Clooney ) may seem enchanting. The quality of his work is excellent, and he has a team of dedicated assistants.

Lately, however, he has begun to question the value of his chosen acting roles and is concerned that he has not spent enough time with his daughters, one of whom is backpacking around Europe with friends.

Do you understand now why things are difficult for him?

Turns out he needn't have worried. Unaware that he was supposed to start filming a new project, Jay summons a fleet of Range Rovers to whisk him and his entourage to a private jet crossing the Atlantic so he can catch the same train from Paris as his daughter and travel with her to receive a lifetime achievement award at an arts festival in Tuscany.

Everything is taken care of for him by his employees, led by his loyal manager (Adam Sandler, who is so touchingly pained and exhausted that he could be in line for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar).

It's true that the train's first-class carriages are crowded, but the passengers in the economy seats greet Jay with charming courtesy. It's true that he hasn't been a perfect father, but his daughters still love him.

Conflicts involving his selfish father (Stacy Keach) and a jealous old friend from acting school (Billy Crudup) are mitigated by the help of the hired help. Even first-world problems aren't a problem for Jay.

And that's the fatal flaw that permeates Jay Kelly , which premiered at the Venice Film Festival and arrives on Netflix in December. When a protagonist can fulfill his desires with the snap of a finger—or, more accurately, with a radiant smile—all the danger and tension disappear.

Viewers can laugh at the good-natured jokes and be moved by the historic, sun-drenched hill towns of Tuscany, but it's hard to care about Jay's anxieties.

So, what's at stake? What's the worst that could happen?

Written by Baumbach and Emily Mortimer, Jay Kelly echoes countless other American films and television series, many of them influenced by the success of The White Lotus , which portray with fascination the lifestyles of the rich and famous.

There are plenty of these glittering tributes to the 1% on screens right now, but most of them include a murder ( The Perfect Couple ) or some twisted conspiracy ( Succession ) to convince us we're not just enviously watching a selection of sprawling kitchens with ocean views.

There's no such tension in Jay Kelly . His midlife crisis is so mild that "crisis" isn't really the right word—and yet, this is a comedy that takes its main character deeply seriously. Viewers may have a hard time doing the same.

The film opens with a quote from Sylvia Plath (not that Jay's anguish has anything to do with Plath's) and proceeds to revere him as a troubled demigod: there are fond flashbacks to his youth, there are speeches praising his filmography, there is a maudlin piano song providing rhythm to the soundtrack.

There are also a few short, pithy lines about his inability to appreciate his own extremely privileged status, but for the most part the viewer is invited to appreciate a well-intentioned, magically talented guy who enriched the world with decades of great performances—and did so without drug problems, sex scandals, or other skeletons in the closet.

The vague sentimentality of this indulgent romantic fantasy is hard to stomach.

When you watch Seth Rogen's fantastic Apple TV+ series about Hollywood executives and stars, The Studio , you're expected to laugh with the characters and at them, but not to worship them.

The same used to be true of Baumbach's characters. In the past, his dark comedies were almost exclusively composed of foolish, frustrated, and sometimes downright awful people.

It's disappointing, then, that he, like so many filmmakers today, is so soft on the world's most privileged people. Are they truly inherently fascinating and impressive just because they have more money in the bank than the average in many countries?

Perhaps these people no longer seem so privileged to Baumbach.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of his films is the connection they have with his own life and concerns.

The Squid and the Whale , for example, was about growing up in Brooklyn as the son of an aspiring novelist, as was Baumbach's case. While We're Young was about a New York filmmaker facing middle age. Marriage Story was about a New York director's divorce.

Having written the box office hit Barbie with his wife Greta Gerwig (who also directed the film), it's understandable that Hollywood's glamorous high society is top of mind at the moment.

But couldn't he have brought some of his old biting humor to the film? Throughout Jay Kelly , Jay is fawned over by the public and coddled by his advisors. Baumbach also fawns and coddles too much.

'Jay Kelly' is scheduled to premiere on Netflix on December 5th.