Hear me, young whippersnappers! There was a time, back in the 1980s and 1990s, when the name James L. Brooks meant something. Not just the Simpsons tear-jerker moments, but also a couple romcoms for the ages. Streaming and movie tastes have relegated JLB to live with his Simpsons residuals, depriving us all of that something only he has. Ella McCay isn’t some spellbinding return, but for the movie newbies, could hopefully springboard you into a movie world that you didn’t know existed, and put a smile on your face.
The narrator, Estelle (Julie Kavner, or Marge Simpson as she’s basically known) tells us about Ella McCay (Emma Mackey), the person she’s nuts about. In 2008, McCay’s star has been on the rise, helping the current Governor Bill (Albert Brooks) to a long, successful term in office through her caring, thoughtful legislation. Governor Bill gets the call to become Department of the Interior Bill by the Obama Administration, meaning the 34 year old Lieutenant Governor is about to become the new governor for a year and a half. The new job means new responsibilities, and more stress. But not just job stress: First Husband Ryan (Jack Lowden) is a bit too overexcited at this development, and Ella’s aunt Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis) informs her niece that Ella’s absentee dad Eddie (Woody Harrelson) is back in town, at the same time that her brother Casey (Spike Fearn) has gone no contact.
What makes James L. Brooks so special is his ability to turn a phrase. At his best, Brooks characters talk like we all aspire to, but not so annoyingly brilliant that it feels unrelatable. Ella McCay more often than not showcases the power of Brooks’s pen. The comedy setups are broadly written, but the specificity of the dialogue elevates it above stereotypical movie scenes we’ve seen before (“I’ll never forgive you…call me if you need anything. ” Magnificent). The problems people go through here are adult in nature, civics or existentially related, helping buoy the dialogue into the human story Brooks wants to tell. The quicker you get on Brooks’s wavelength, the more lovable Ella McCay becomes. Not all the plots work (non Albert Brooks men are maybe a little too stupid), but they take up not a lot of screen time, falling away in favor of the lasting moments only Brooks can conjure. Something as simple as a beautiful phone call between Ella and Helen after she gets appointed, or an exasperated scream are moments lesser directors would be too sappy in lesser hands. But Brooks earns those moments by building to them, crafting characters we believe would do or say the things in these scenes.
The biggest swing Brooks takes is hoping Emma Mackey is ready to play the titular character. Mackey’s star has been on the rise for a while now, while she also has been really sinking her teeth into juicy roles. The screenplay asks a LOT of her: she’s gotta be believable as a teenager, 34 year old young governor, wife, sister, daughter, somehow capable of running a state but vulnerable enough to be human at the same time. The list of actors who can pull off something like this is very short. Thankfully, Mackey is one of them. She acquits herself to the dialogue quickly and pretty effortlessly, shapeshifting emotionally scene to scene while also making those sequences all fit as a part of Ella McCay as a whole. The more I think about what Emma Mackey pulls of here, the more impressed I get. She lifts the entire cast up with her performance including Oscar Winners (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Oscar Nominees (Albert Brooks, Woody Harrelson, Kumail Nanjiani) and wills it into the sweet entertainment James L. Brooks hoped Ella McCay will become.
So no, grandma, that’s not Margot Robbie. That’s Emma Mackey playing Ella McCay. Yes, they are different people, and so is Samara Weaving. Whoever cloned the 3 of them, I applaud your subtle work, making them the same, but just different enough.