By: Lana K. Wilson-Combs
"ELLA MCCAY"--WARM PERFORMANCES LIFT A SOFT-EDGED POLITICAL TALE
James L. Brooks (TV's "Terra X History") returns to the big screen with
"Ella McCay," a warm, slightly shambling political comedy-drama that feels tailor-made to remind audiences of the filmmaker's signature blend of oddball humor and workplace chaos.
Set in 2008 and anchored by Emma Mackey's ("Narnia" and "Barbie") earnest, occasionally jittery performance as a 34-year-old lieutenant governor unexpectedly poised to take the reins of state leadership, the film hums with Brooks' fondness for people trying their best in systems failing them faster than they can adapt.
There's a comforting familiarity to the film's rhythms, smart banter, overlapping crises, and characters who talk like they've walked straight out of a premium-network dramedy circa 2005, but there is also a lingering sense that Brooks is revisiting territory he's already mastered rather than pushing toward anything surprising.
Mackey's Ella is at her most compelling when the film leans into the emotional push-and-pull of her personal life, particularly her strained relationship with her father, Eddie played with weary charm and exasperating selfishness by Woody Harrelson ("Now You See Me: Now You Don't"). He's a serial cheater who has left a trail of damage but is suddenly eager to try and repair things between them. He shows up at inconvenient moments begging for forgiveness, burdening Ella just as she's attempting to project stability to the public.
Brooks uses these scenes to remind us that personal crises don’t wait for political calendars, and Mackey navigates the dynamic with a sympathetic blend of frustration, vulnerability, and reluctant compassion. Her performance grounds the film whenever its broader comedic instincts wander.
Complicating matters further is the sudden departure of the state's long-term Governor Bill, played with genial understatement by Albert Brooks (TV's "The Simpsons"). When he accepts a cabinet position in the incoming administration, Ella finds herself thrust into a leadership transition she may not be emotionally or politically prepared for.
Brooks and Mackey share an easy rapport here. They are mentors who genuinely like each other, even as the professional handoff creates an undertow of anxiety for Ella. Their scenes together provide some of the film's loveliest grace notes, particularly when Ella quietly admits she's unsure whether she wants the job she's spent years preparing to inherit.
Ella's home life offers just as many complications. Jamie Lee Curtis ("Freakier Friday") delivers a warm, slightly eccentric turn as Ella's Aunt, becoming one of the few people Ella can truly lean on as the pressures of public life mount. Their relationship becomes a quiet emotional backbone for the film. However, Ella's marriage to Ryan (Jack Lowden, TV's "Slow Horses") is on the rocks and they are struggling to stay connected while navigating two vastly different emotional worlds.
These domestic tensions are stitched together with a folksy charm thanks to Julie Kavner (TV's "The Simpsons") who stars in the film and provides the lightly humorous narration, which gives the movie the feel of a tale being passed down through family lore.
As Ella juggles her father's emotional demands, her staff's barely contained meltdown, and the existential panic of ascending to the governorship, the film settles into a gentle comedic groove.
The story unfolds less like a high-stakes political comedy and more like a human-scale portrait of a woman trying to stay upright as life lobs disasters at her from every direction. That modesty is both the film's charm and its ceiling.
"Ella McCay" never aims to be grand, but it manages to find humor, heart, and small truths in Ella's balancing act.
Editor's Note: Be sure to catch my N2Entertainment.net movie talk segment on the Kitty O'Neal Show Fridays at 5:17 p.m. and 6:47 p.m. on radio station KFBK 93.1 FM and 1530 AM.
Check Out This Trailer For
"ELLA MCCAY"
Lana K. Wilson-Combs is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA), The American Film Institute (AFI), and a Nominating Committee Voting Member for the NAACP Image Awards.
