Why is “Jay Kelly” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “language.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes several scenes of men and women kissing and embracing, including a woman kissing a married man, discussions of actors performing sex scenes, two scenes of men fighting that include shoving and hitting resulting in a visible black eye, discussions of a man’s broken nose, discussions of death, many scenes of people drinking, one scene of a man describing when he once smoked crack, and nearly 30 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Famous and aging actor Jay Kelly (George Clooney) reflects on his accomplishments and failings while traveling through Europe with his devoted entourage (Adam Sandler and Laura Dern) in tow. Also with Emily Mortimer and Greta Gerwig. Directed by Noah Baumbach. Several lines of dialogue are spoken in French and Italian, with and without translation. [Running Time: 2:12]

Jay Kelly SEX/NUDITY 4

 – A man and woman lie in a bed on a movie set and they kiss under the director’s instructions: he tells the man to kiss the woman’s lips, then neck, then shoulder repeatedly, and the woman runs her hands through the man’s hair; the woman wears a nightgown (cleavage is visible) and she tells the man, “I’m so in love with you.”
► A young man and a woman sit together on a train and kiss, cuddle, and hold hands. A woman kisses a married man; they used to be in a romantic relationship and the man later talks about “not kissing her back.”
► A man describes an affair he had with an actress while he was married; he says, “We didn’t kiss for real until the shoot ended,” and describes using the set as an excuse to spend time together. A young woman says that she and her friends are on a girls’ holiday and they’re in France to “get shagged.” While reading lines for an audition, a man says, “There are so many girls I ain’t laid yet.” A man asks another man if he would be willing to act in the “prostitute picture” he is working on. Two actors discuss what it’s like to do sex scenes with strangers, how awkward it is, and how it might be better to have “pretend sex” without knowing someone. In a voiceover from a film, a man says, “I stand before you naked.” A woman says that a castle is haunted by the ghosts of “little monks who expose themselves.” A woman asks a man if the theft he stopped also had a “sexual threat,” and the man says no. A man accuses another man of stealing his girlfriend.

Jay Kelly VIOLENCE/GORE 3

 – A man steals a woman’s purse on a train, she screams for someone to stop him and the man pulls a cord to stop the train and jumps off; several other men chase him off the train and through a field and one man trips and falls, limping when he gets up (we later see him using crutches); the thief is tackled by a man and they wrestle on the ground over the purse while people watch and cheer. Two men get in a fight outside a bar after drinking; they trade shoves, and one man says, “I always had this fantasy of hitting you,” a punch is thrown and later one man has a visible black eye and we learn the other man has a broken nose.
► A man knocks a vase off a table in frustration and we hear it shatter as another man at the table looks shocked, and the first man apologizes. A thief’s friend says, “He just needs his medication, he is not well and this isn’t who he is.” At a party, a woman tells a man that his father is sick and fell down while trying to do yoga and eat pasta; a doctor examines the father and says he is all right and the man asks if there is blood on his father’s shirt, but the woman says that it is Bolognese sauce.
► A woman driving says, “[F-word deleted, I think I just hit a rabbit” (she doesn’t stop the car and we do not see any gore). In several scenes, people discuss the risk of a man being sued, and his reputation being damaged, for breaking another man’s nose. A woman says she is allergic to nuts and if she has one, “My throat will close up and I will die.” People discuss death, the fear of death, the desire for death, and how it feels to act out one’s own death in movies in several scenes. A woman feels guilty for helping her boss secretly track his daughter so he could surprise her, and her boss says that she was just doing her job and she says, “That’s a Nazi excuse.” A man jokes about urinating on the side of the road during a long drive and his daughter reacts in disgust. A woman tells her father, “My ten-year-old self is giving you the finger.” A man is described as suffering from “infinite COVID.” At a funeral, a man discusses his father’s last words as he “lay dying” before him. People mourn and cry.
► During a film clip montage, there are explosions and gunfire, and a man does several dangerous stunts (there are no injuries or gore). A man is walking down a remote road when several SUVs approach; he seems alarmed but there is no collision, the cars stop and people get out to say hello. Several scenes show a man on a movie set wearing a bloody coat (there is a visible bullet hole) while he performs a scene where his character dies; people discuss wanting him in a “bloodier coat.”
► While two actors film a scene, there is audible flatulence and the man asks the woman if she flatulated and she apologizes and they laugh.

Jay Kelly LANGUAGE 7

 – At least 29 F-words, 1 reference to an obscene hand gesture, 11 scatological terms, 2 anatomical terms, 8 mild obscenities, name-calling (idiot, stupid, egomaniac, hillbilly, lunatic), 5 religious exclamations (e.g. oh my God, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ). | profanity glossary |

Jay Kelly SUBSTANCE USE

 – A man describes having to go to a tequila bar and “smoke crack” to get a movie offer for a client, then says, “I don’t know what I smoked but I thought I was going to swallow my tongue,” and people discuss a man’s “pending drug charge from the 90s.” People drink wine and hard liquor in many scenes, people appear drunk in a few scenes, a man describes his mother as being sad when she drank, and people mention drinking too much or having hangovers in a few scenes. People smoke cigarettes in a few scenes.

Jay Kelly DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Fame, parenthood, divorce, grief, success, love, death, jealousy, work/life balance.

Jay Kelly MESSAGE

 – Whichever life direction you choose, will involve some loss, sacrifice and regrets.