Critic's Notebook

Netflix

Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly,” premiering at the Venice International Film Festival, must be inspired, at least in part, by Federico Fellini’s “8 1/2.” If so, it’s appropriate that it stars the Marcello Mastroianni of our time, George Clooney, in the titular role. Though the protagonist here isn’t a filmmaker but a movie star.

The film opens with a Sylvia Plath quote: “It’s a hell of a responsibility to be yourself. It’s much easier to be somebody else or nobody at all.” Jay’s daughter Jess (Riley Keough), who characterizes him as an empty vessel, has been in therapy because of childhood trauma stemming from a movie rented by her sitter in which her I.R.L. absentee dad acted as if he were the father of year to another family.

The first scene takes place on a glitzy circus-like movie set, with the crew and the handlers swarming in all directions. And . . . action! Jay does a soliloquy about dying, before breaking character and requesting to start over. That’s a wrap. His nanny-like helicopter manager, Ron (Adam Sandler), already has the next role lined up in a project by a couple of sought-after directing brothers.

At home, Jay wishes to spend time with his younger daughter, Daisy (Grace Edwards), before she flies the nest. But she’s already made plans with her pals to take the Eurorail from France to Italy. Wanting to surprise Daisy, Jay and his entourage board a private jet and track her down using locations of her bestie’s credit card transactions.

This journey is parallel with Jay’s trip down memory lane. When exiting a train car, he steps into a scene from his past. He turned down an offer from Peter Schneider (Jim Broadbent) shortly before the director’s death, despite the fact that Peter was the one who discovered him. The encounter with his old roommate, Timothy (Billy Crudup), gets Jay reminiscing about the audition that precipitated their falling out (Charlie Rowe and Louis Partridge portray younger Jay and Timothy, respectively). Jess’s castigation conjures up memories of on-set intimacy with Daphne (Eve Hewson) that turned into an illicit affair. Of course, these vignettes are what draw the “8 1/2” comparisons. It’s interesting to see Mr. Baumbach adopting a different style, even if it’s meant to be an homage.

Though universally adored by all the strangers on the train, Jay’s family and entourage members successively drop out of the picture as the trek progresses. He gets a tribute in Tuscany, but only his prickly father (Stacy Keach) cares to make an appearance. Jay is utterly alone.

The metafiction boasts such a juicy part that it has no doubt lured Mr. Clooney from his Italian villa. The perennially debonair leading man brings with him substantial baggage from his own time in the limelight, which immediately resonates with those who’ve borne witness to his career. Suffice it to say that Jay’s Tuscan tribute features a clip reel of highlights from Mr. Clooney’s own filmography. It’s low-hanging fruit, but you can’t deny it is very effective. Oscar voters are going to eat this up.