Overview

• The U.K. premiere unfolded at the BFI London Film Festival’s Royal Festival Hall with Noah Baumbach, George Clooney and Adam Sandler leading a large ensemble on the red carpet.
• Baumbach directs from a script co-written with Emily Mortimer, with Clooney playing an ageing movie star and Sandler portraying his steadfast manager, Ron.
• Baumbach said the story uses an actor in crisis as a stand-in to examine identity, regret and the gap between public persona and private self.
• Clooney noted he drew on elements of his own life for the role but emphasized he is not as unhappy as the character, while early reviews praise his performance and highlight Sandler’s turn generating Oscars chatter.
• The film continues its festival-to-awards campaign with a limited theatrical release in November before debuting on Netflix on December 5.