There’s a crossover promotional video for this film in which an excited Lisa and Marge Simpson emerge from a screening of Ella McCay only to walk straight back into the next showing of this “very, very, almost great movie”. “They sure don’t make ’em like that any more,” Marge says.
Well, quite. James L Brooks returns to film-making after a decade and a half with a big-hearted, politically themed comic drama that might easily have been the slightly underpowered follow-up to As Good as It Gets.
At 85, Brooks retains an instinct for human foibles and complex characters, even if on this occasion the material doesn’t always live up to his cast.
Emma Mackey plays the titular young politician from a fictional US state. Ella’s tenure as lieutenant governor unfolds in 2008, affording the film a comfortable remove from the polarities of contemporary American politics. She is a kind of Mrs Smith Goes to Washington: idealistic, chronically overextended, and on the rise.
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If only her ascent weren’t continually derailed by the small menagerie of crises emanating from her private life. Or, more specifically, the men in her life. Jack Lowden plays the ambitious, faintly suspect husband; Woody Harrelson the philandering father forever angling for reconciliation; and Spike Fearn the shut-in younger brother.
Jamie Lee Curtis and Julie Kavner – the voice of Marge Simpson – steal scenes, as Ella’s emotionally disruptive aunt and her wily secretary.
It’s a formidable ensemble, and they work hard to generate the sort of lived-in warmth Brooks is loved for. Mackey embodies the film’s wide-eyed hopeful spirit.
But even superb actors can do only so much when a script feels baggy. Conflicts emerge only to be waved away moments later, and the swerves between folksy political fable, broad family comedy and tear-jerking melodrama are sudden and many.
Brooks has successfully blended tones before. Broadcast News juggles all of the above. These shifts undermine the emotional impact.
For all that structural uncertainty, Ella McCay is difficult to dislike. It’s old-fashioned and undeniably heartfelt. There’s a compelling sweetness in its rooting for good public service, and a refreshing optimism that feels almost radical in 2025.
In cinemas from Friday, December 12th
