{"id":2193849,"date":"2025-12-10T18:24:29","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T18:24:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2193849"},"modified":"2025-12-10T18:24:29","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T18:24:29","slug":"ella-mccay-review-james-l-brooks-first-movie-in-15-years-is-cheesy-and-interminable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/ella-mccay-review-james-l-brooks-first-movie-in-15-years-is-cheesy-and-interminable\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Ella McCay&#8217; review: James L. Brooks&#8217; first movie in 15 years is cheesy and interminable"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2025%2F12%2Fnewspress-collage-7llca7fvg-1765330425426.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall%261765312534\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--review alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n\t\t<span class=\"inline-module--review__eyebrow subsection-heading-semi__label\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tmovie review\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"inline-module--review__title subsection-heading-semi\">\n\t\t\tELLA MCCAY\t\t<\/h2>\n<div class=\"rating\">\n<div class=\"rating__stars\">\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--filled\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--empty\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: 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*\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--empty\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p>Running time: 115 minutes. Rated PG-13 (strong language, some sexual material and drug content). In theaters.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In the pantheon of James L. Brooks films, \u201cElla McCay\u201d is far from as good as it gets.<\/p>\n<p>That the ingenious and idiosyncratic Oscar winner, who wrote and directed \u201cBroadcast News\u201d and \u201cTerms of Endearment\u201d and helped develop \u201cThe Simpsons,\u201d has churned out a movie as cloying and empty-headed as this dud is extremely depressing. Even after his last flop, 2010\u2019s lacking \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2010\/12\/17\/how-do-you-know-is-foul-send-it-to-the-minors\/\">How Do You Know<\/a>,\u201d it\u2019s still a huge disappointment.<\/p>\n<p>My kingdom for a \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2004\/12\/17\/la-vida-loco\/\">Spanglish<\/a>\u201d!<\/p>\n<p>I hoped Brooks, who I greatly admire, would deliver a pleasantly old-fashioned comedy coursing with intellect and textured performances. D\u2019oh!\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This sloppy slog is terrible; short, but interminable. The characters? Unserious, unconvincing cartoons. Except Homer Simpson is a pillar of nuance next to most of the sputtering fools of \u201cElla McCay.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--more inline-module--columnist inline-module--more--thirds\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n<h2 class=\"inline-module__heading subsection-heading subsection-heading--single-line \">\n\t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"subsection-heading__sub\">Johnny Oleksinski<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>At least there\u2019s Ella, the closest the film comes to a real, likable person, thanks to a charismatic performance from beaming Brit Emma Mackey.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Her story on the other hand\u2026<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s the 34-year-old lieutenant governor of an unnamed state who\u2019s spent her life in its leafy capital city.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Sweet and idealistic though she is, you can hardly believe Ella is a powerful politician on the rise. She makes Zohran look like Churchill.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>When her boss, Gov. Bill Moore (a blandly paternal Albert Brooks), gets a post in the Obama administration, Ella unexpectedly ascends to the top job. She\u2019s a young Kathy Hochul, only without the #MeToo boost up the ladder.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Albert Brooks and Emma Mackey star in \u201cElla McCay.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That would make a jaunty premise for someone like Aaron Sorkin, who writes with a keen knowledge of the inner workings of politics.<\/p>\n<p>Hollywood unsurprisingly doesn\u2019t make a lot of gubernatorial movies. So, some actual insight into this specific world would be nice. Brooks\u2019 half-tries with jokes about the peculiarities of fundraising, but they fall flat.<\/p>\n<p>The details-be-damned director dumbs it down, and gives Ella a midseason sitcom home life to caulk the cracks. She\u2019s been estranged from her womanizing dad, Eddie (Woody Harrelson, doing his thing), for 13 years, and was raised by her batty diner-owner aunt Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis) after her mom died.<\/p>\n<p>They bicker and freak out, and then freak out and bicker.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Jamie Lee Curtis goes loco as Aunt Helen. <span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Curtis has really gone loco since \u201cEverything Everywhere All At Once.\u201d Here the \u201cFreakier Friday\u201d actress behaves as if she\u2019s in a Broadway musical. She exaggeratedly shouts and flails her arms like Tarzan\u2019s baking a casserole.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Some of the glass shattering volume is\\ in the script. There is a cliched scene in which Helen and Ella do a primal scream to release their pent-up frustrations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Sounds good. Too bad me yelling in a movie theater would incite a mass panic.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Ella\u2019s little brother Casey (Spike Fearn) works with computers and is lonely. He meets a girl named Susan (Ayo Edebiri), and then becomes less lonely. Why should we care? Beats me.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Meeting Ayo Edebiri cheers up Ella\u2019s brother Casey (Spike Fearn). <span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The young gov also has a dishy boyfriend named Ryan (Jack Lowden) that her aunt disapproves of and whose undependability turns into nastiness. A stupid mistake made by Ella involving her beau and \u201cwrongful use of government property\u201d threatens to destroy her days-old governorship.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That shredder-worthy twist is when the viewer totally gives up on the plot.<\/p>\n<p>The boneheaded present is broken up by predictable scenes from Ella\u2019s cheesy past: The tragedy of her mom\u2019s passing and her teenage rebellion of sneaking Ryan into her bedroom. <\/p>\n<p>All of this sap is scored by Hans Zimmer with the bittersweet orchestral music of a kid named Billy biking around a cul de sac in 1998.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Julie Kavner is a welcome presence onscreen. <span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Other than luminous Mackey, the saving grace of the movie is Julie Kavner as Ella\u2019s secretary \u2014 and the movie\u2019s narrator \u2014 Estelle.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Kavner has made a number of films over the years, but is best known for her TV roles: Brenda on \u201cRhoda\u201d and the voice of Marge on \u201cThe Simpsons.\u201d Believe me, she lives rent-free in your head.<\/p>\n<p>Kavner wholly embodies a heartfelt Brooksian weirdness, like Holly Hunter habitually sobbing in \u201cBroadcast News.\u201d You buy her bizarre behavior, no questions asked.<\/p>\n<p>Other than a familiar and beloved Brooks player and a smart female protagonist whose stressful personal life gets in the way of her demanding career, it\u2019s hard to make out the \u201cAs Good As It Gets\u201d director here.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cElla McCay\u201d is like if \u201cWelcome to Mooseport\u201d had the nerve to tell you to cry.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>movie review ELLA MCCAY Running time: 115 minutes. Rated PG-13 (strong language, some sexual material and drug content). In theaters. In the pantheon of James L. Brooks films, \u201cElla McCay\u201d is far from as good as it gets. That the ingenious and idiosyncratic Oscar winner, who wrote and directed \u201cBroadcast News\u201d and \u201cTerms of Endearment\u201d [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2193850,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25174],"tags":[398847,21741,409650,28308,304995,21912],"class_list":["post-2193849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gossip","tag-albert-brooks","tag-entertainment","tag-james-l-brooks","tag-jamie-lee-curtis","tag-movie-reviews","tag-movies"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Ella-McCay-review-James-L-Brooks-first-movie-in-15.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2193849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2193849"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2193849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2193851,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2193849\/revisions\/2193851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2193850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2193849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2193849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2193849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}