Stacy Keach

In Jay Kelly (2025), Stacy Keach plays the star's father without competing for attention. We were grateful for his stillness, because so many of the other supporting players were being kept busy without being given much to do. Noah Baumbach's comedy is warm and handsome, but too indulgent towards its central figure. Keach makes us wish the rest of the cast had been allowed to settle down a little. It is a small contribution worth noticing in a film that gives us plenty of distractions.

The hard-edged roles are only part of the story. Keach's breakthrough was Billy Tully, the washed-up boxer in Fat City (1972), which remains central to his reputation for playing desperate men. Frank James in Walter Hill's The Long Riders (1980), then the television lead in Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer (1984–1987), brought more familiar figures of toughness. He also co-wrote The Long Riders with James Keach, a useful reminder that he was helping to shape the work.

That toughness cannot do much about a screenplay that has decided to explain everybody too quickly. In American History X (1998), his Cameron is part of a cast working against blunt writing and hurried explanations. Tony Kaye directs with force, and Edward Norton's disturbing performance is the main reason we found the film worth seeing. Keach's supporting turn belongs in an account of his strengths, but the film needs more room for doubt and gradual change than its writing allows.

His later work includes Ed Pegram in Alexander Payne's Nebraska (2013), another ensemble assignment. It is worth remembering that the actor often cast as detectives, wardens and antagonists has also played Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear on stage. We need not pretend every screen role gives him comparable opportunities, and the small contribution to Jay Kelly is best valued for what it supplies. Start with Fat City for a substantial part; save Baumbach's film for an evening when a few good supporting performances will be enough.