Regardless of some genuinely astounding dramatic turns all through his largely very humorous profession, Adam Sandler has by no means scored an Oscar nomination … however his new Netflix film “Jay Kelly” may simply put him within the race for finest supporting actor on the large ceremony subsequent March.
Noah Baumbach’s newest film, “Jay Kelly,” options George Clooney because the titular film star whose profession victories have mainly upended his private life for years, however Sandler performs the pivotal function of Jay’s longtime supervisor, Ron Sukenick. Once more, whereas the “Sandman” has positively tackled dramatic roles earlier than (and I will come again to these and why he is a very phenomenal dramatic performer), the function of Ron in “Jay Kelly” is a departure from current tasks just like the “Homicide Thriller” franchise and, nicely, “Joyful Gilmore 2.” So what drew Sandler to this film, moreover his long-running and up to date collaborations with Netflix that embrace the 2 tasks I simply talked about, in addition to family-friendly flicks like “You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah?”
In keeping with an interview with Sandler in Vainness Honest again in August of 2025, Sandler, who beforehand labored with Baumbach on “The Meyerowitz Tales,” was approached by the acclaimed writer-director straight. “He simply form of stated, ‘Yeah, he is writing our subsequent factor.’ He did not even inform me what it is about,” Sandler informed David Canfield. Apparently, he was a direct sure as soon as he learn the script: “My character loves George’s character a lot, and I assumed that may be enjoyable to do and straightforward to do with George. And as a man who’s an actor who’d stay an analogous life to Jay Kelly, it is a loopy depiction — how correct loads of it’s.”
The precise function of Jay Kelly’s supervisor was written for Advert
In a unique interview with each Noah Baumbach and Adam Sandler in Deadline, Baumbach expressly confirmed that he wrote the function of Ron Sukenick for Sandler due to the way in which Sandler not solely prioritizes his household, however usually consists of them and his trade associates in his tasks. (Sandler’s daughters Sunny and Sadie, for instance, often lead or seem in his current tasks.)
Baumbach basically stated that he and Sandler have this trait in widespread. “I all the time use my associates, both relying on their talents or the roles, I exploit folks in my motion pictures who I’ve identified my entire life, or , I deliver my circle of relatives into it,” he shared. “However I felt like with Ron, it might be a manner for Adam to form of play one thing that I really feel is definitely fairly near him, however in a personality that truly is not that near him. Adam clearly lives Jay Kelly’s life in actuality.”
Sandler, notably, does not play the large film star, however Baumbach factors out that he designed Ron to serve a really particular function: “Ron is like Jay’s shadow.” In that manner, Baumbach says, the titular Jay Kelly’s struggles with fame and his legacy as an internationally acclaimed actor matter simply as a lot as Ron’s commitments to his household and youngsters. “Jay’s having a form of existential darkish evening of the soul, and Ron’s having the extra bizarre model of ‘I am away from my household. I am attempting to do an excellent job at work. I am additionally attempting to be an excellent guardian, and the way do I do that? And that is what I selected, or I have to re-choose this or not,'” Baumbach continued.
Adam Sandler has made dramatic and even self-referential movies earlier than — they usually all result in Jay Kelly, by some means
In the case of Adam Sandler’s dramatic roles, just a few standouts come to thoughts. “Humorous Folks” might be the closest in subject material to “Jay Kelly,” however in that Judd Apatow movie, Sandler performs the disaffected film star with a messy private life, and Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Punch-Drunk Love” is one other nice instance. What I am right here to speak about, although, is the dramatic efficiency I believe is Sandler’s best: his flip as despondent jeweler Howard Ratner in “Uncut Gems.”
This high-octane, heart-pounding, usually horrific thriller, launched in 2019 and directed by the Safdie Brothers, gave Sandler his largest alternative but to point out off his dramatic chops, and he positively succeeded — and it is as a result of he is such an excellent comedic actor, not despite it. Sure. Sandler’s roles in “Humorous Folks,” “Punch-Drunk Love,” and even one other Netflix drama, “Hustle,” exhibit his expertise for extra “critical” work, however his efficiency because the frantic, horrible determination maker Howard in “Uncut Gems” reveals off his razor-sharp timing, forcing him to stroll an intense tightrope stroll for the complete film’s runtime as you watch Howard’s life deterioriate an increasing number of drastically.
My level right here is that Noah Baumbach is understood for his dense, tense, and intense scripts, and after watching Sandler’s completely bravura flip in “Uncut Gems” and dealing with him on “The Meyerowitz Tales,” it is not shocking that he wrote a task particularly for Sandler that depends on this actor’s timing, wit, and typically shocking depth. In a simply world, Sandler would have an Oscar nomination — and maybe an Oscar — for “Uncut Gems.” Perhaps “Jay Kelly” can proper this mistaken.
“Jay Kelly” hits Netflix on December 5, 2025.
