Unfortunately, there is no better example of how difficult it is to write a great screenplay than the career of James L. Brooks. With his huge high high-quality hits ending in 1997, there was a glitch in 1994 with "I'll Do Anything", and starting in 1994, with the below-average "Spanglish", his screenplays ever since the outstanding As Good as it Gets, have declined, ending with the bad new movie "Ella McCay". One would think that, waiting 15 years since "How Do You Know," this new movie would have returned to the quality that Brooks achieved with As Good as it Gets.
The critics are at their worst with their reviews of this film. Joshua Mbonu: "With constant misses in the film’s attempts at comedy and performances that are as absent as the film itself, Ella McCay, at the very least, sticks out as one of the more baffling films you’ll watch unfold this year." Brian Orndorf: "Sadly, brightness of spirit is buried in a mess of a movie, watching Brooks build a maze of characters and motivations he ultimately can’t find his way out of." Jim Schembri: "A surprisingly spiritless and flustered stumblebum of a comedy." Marshall Shaffer: "But the screenplay is an otherwise calamitous creation that demonstrates more than just a lack of Brooks’ previous genius. It stands in complete disregard for the most basic principles of screenwriting." For someone as talented as Brooks, now 88 years old, to see reviews this bad at this late stage in his career has to hurt. This is the life of anyone in Hollywood who places years of work in front of the eyes of critics who at times can be overly cruel.
The most hard to understand aspect of this film is why there were no checks and balances, and numerous eyes from other directors, producers, and screenwriters who said to Brooks, "This needs about 10 more rewrites." There is nothing wrong with writing a bad screenplay; the problem is when you have so much fame, money, and clout that you can put out a bad movie like this one, without making sure that it is actually good enough to release.
Ella McCay stars Emma Mackey as Ella McCay, Woody Harrelson as Ella's father, Eddie McCay, who is a serial cheater, Rebecca Hall as Ella's mother, Jamie Lee Curtis as Ella's aunt Hellen, and Spike Fearn as Ella's younger brother, Casey. Kumail Nanjiani has a strange part as a State trooper in a role that makes very little sense, with very few lines. Ayo Edebiri has a small part in this movie as the former girlfriend of Casey, with scenes that seem to be nothing more than making the running time over two hours. Julie Kavner has an acting/narration role that also makes very little sense, because there seems to be no reason for this movie to have any narration. Albert Brooks is also in this movie as the Governor of an unknown State, and once he decides to take a cabinet position, Ella takes over as the Governor, in her early 30s. Of course, none of this makes any sense. Given that Ella is so young as Lieutenant Governor, it is unlikely that a Governor of a State would leave his job under these conditions. There is a scene at the end of this movie with Ella and her aunt Helen standing and screaming out their frustrations to each other, which gives an ironic twist, because this is exactly what any fan of James L. Brooks wants to do after sitting through this waste of two hours.
This movie is a series of mostly disconnected stories that try to be funny or interesting, but when thrown together, do not seem to have any direct point or overall message. The plot is very difficult to fully describe because there is no definable plot that you would expect within a major movie release.
In terms of the actors and the great screenwriter involved, this huge miss is one of the biggest surprises I have seen since last year's complete disaster "Megalopolis", which redefined the definition of what a bad movie is. The Rotten Tomatoes ratings of 20% for this amazingly bad film are correct. This one should be missed at all costs.
The Grid below is a list of all the great, average, and bad James L. Brooks movies since his massive hit in 1983 with Terms of Endearment, which won for best picture, best director, best actress Shirley Maclaine, Jack Nicholson for best supporting actor, and best adapted screenplay.
| Year | Film | RT Tomatometer | Oscar Nominations | Oscar Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Terms of Endearment | 81% | 11 | 5 |
| 1987 | Broadcast News | 98% | 7 | 0 |
| 1994 | I’ll Do Anything | 65% | 0 | 0 |
| 1997 | As Good as It Gets | 86% | 7 | 2 |
| 2004 | Spanglish | 54% | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 | How Do You Know | 31% | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | Ella McCay | 20% | 0 | 0 |