We didn’t how much we missed James. L. Brooks. Until now.
The director behind “Broadcast News,” “Terms of Endearment” and “As Good As It Gets” returns with “Ella McCay.” Suddenly, we have a megawatt cast scarfing down sweet morsels of dialogue that grab us by the collar.
No, this isn’t a complete return to form, but it’s a far cry better than his last outing, the middling “How Do You Know,” a film missing a question mark and sense of purpose.
“Ella McCay” knows exactly what it wants to be, and it gets close enough to count.
The titular heroine, played with zest by Emma Mackey, is the Lieutenant Governor of an unnamed state who cares more about policy than politics.
Stop the presses! Yeah, it’s a movie cliché of the first order, but this sort of screwball comedy is a throwback in more ways than one.
Ella gets the break of a lifetime when “Governor Bill” (Albert Brooks, terrific) snags a plum cabinet post in the new Obama White House, making her the state’s new leader.
(“Ella McCay” is devoid of political trappings, avoiding partisanship at every turn. We assume Ella and co. are all Democrats, but there are no lectures or sucker punches to interrupt the story.)
She’s elated and ready to roll up her sleeves, but hardball politics won’t make it easy. Her husband Ryan (Jack Lowden) is a wild card in more ways than one. Ella’s father (Woody Harrelson) is a reformed womanizer desperate to have her accept his apologies.
The worst part? Ella refuses to play politics, even if it means her run as governor might be brief.
James L. Brooks tells us why he decided to make his first film in 15 years with ‘ELLA MCCAY’
“I have a day job with The Simpsons, at a certain point I just needed to write, I hadn’t written a movie in a long time” pic.twitter.com/Rv3kwjMsyI
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) December 11, 2025
Brooks’ script and tone have been described by critics as stuffy and/or old-fashioned. Guilty as charged, but so what? Few recent scripts have the bounce that Brooks brings to “Ella McCay,” and he has the cast to carry it off.
There’s more life in a Brooks scene than in most corporate, safe mainstream movies. Sometimes it’s too much life, but that’s a bargain we’ll take every time.
Jamie Lee Curtis seems like she just got news of her Oscar win before stepping before Brooks’ cameras. She’s ebullient as Ella’s no-nonsense Aunt, and her character’s joie de vivre is infectious. Curtis also complements Ella’s oh, so serious demeaner, which might otherwise drag the movie down.
Brooks still should have realized that some elements of “Ella McCay” simply don’t work. A romantic subplot involving Ella’s younger brother (Spike Feam) slows the story down to a crawl and could have been effortlessly sent to the editing room floor.
Ella clicks with a key member of her security detail (Kumail Nanjiani), but those interactions seem ready to build to something memorable. No such luck, save an unnecessary scene featuring a member of Brooks’ real-life brood (Joey Brooks).
The Harrelson/Mackey dynamic scores some bitter laughs, but it needs an extra scene or two to reach a full boil.
The 2008 setting may seem innocuous, but it actually matters regarding the “scandal” engulfing Ella. The culture has moved rapidly over the last 20-odd years, and had the events of the film unfolded today, it would be far less consequential.
It might not even lap a single Outrage Cycle™.
The best scenes find Ella banging heads with Brooks’ slick politician. He’s not a bad person, per se, but a Beltway creature who struggles to find his humanity even when he’s looking oh, so hard to reclaim it. Brooks’ performance is effortless and light, a perfect way to capture Ella’s sweet, naive world view.
At 85, Brooks is making movies for a different generation. No fast cuts, absurd plot surprises or dialogue so generic an AI bot could spit it out in seconds.
Yeah, “Ella McCay” is hopelessly old-fashioned and out of time. Thank goodness.
HiT or Miss: “Ella McKay” is director James L. Brooks’ flawed but welcome return to cinemas.