[Rating: Minor Rock Fist Down]
The last time award winning director James L. Brooks directed a feature film, Jack Nicholson effectively retired from acting. This fact alone should have had me very worried about his return to screen in Ella McCay, but dammit, if I wasn’t going to give this movie a chance. I wish and yearn for the time when movies of Ella McCay’s nature would be in theaters and gain an audience, instead of being thrown on a streaming service and disappearing after a weekend. Maybe this movie however needs to be stuck in a strange limbo of theaters, streaming and “what the hell did I just watch.”
As told by a very charming narrator, Estelle (Julie Kavner), Lieutenant governor of an unknown state, Ella McCay (Emma Mackey), is sprung into the spotlight as her governor Bill Moore (Albert Brooks) announces he’s been assigned to the new President’s cabinet, therefore making Ella the new governor. This is a moment she has long dreamed about. Her husband Ryan (Jack Lowden), a fame chaser, is ready for this sudden rise to fame and does whatever he can to make sure he is not just seen as the governor’s husband, but something more. But, how did we get to this point? This is where the movie gets, for lack of a better word, tiresome.
Flashback to the 1990s when teenage Ella has to face the consequences to her father Eddie’s (Woody Harrelson) misconduct allegations and mom Claire (Rebecca Hall) passes away shortly after the allegations. Ella is left with her aunt Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis) to navigate her final year of high school where her aspirations have already started to show, pushing her to seek any chance in government.
Now back to 2008 where governor McCay promises to change the state for the better, entrusting her security guard Trooper Nash (Kumail Nanjiani) to keep her level headed. Also along for more family drama is Ella’s reclusive brother Casey (Spike Fearn) whose sole purpose in the movie is to exist and vibe. He even gets a romance subplot with Susan (Ayo Edebiri) that goes on for far too long. Ella meanwhile faces scrutiny for a bunch of things in the three days she’s governor, including possible bribery when she angers her clout seeking husband. What is a 34 year old governor to do?
Frankly, like the decisions Ella has to make in order to save her repudiation, everything in this movie is far too much. There are plots that seem to go somewhere and pay off in a very lackluster way. Harrelson’s entire plot of trying to reunite with his estranged daughter feels so last second, that I wish his character would have just…not existed in the first place. Ella’s relationship with her brother is so convoluted, Brooks (who wrote the script) makes the audience think we’re supposed to just know their strange relationship with no help to even indicate what the hell is happening.
Brooks has written for great actors in the past with very rich and nuanced characters. Every single one of the actors in this, with the material given feel like they stepped foot on a Hallmark original movie. Why the hell was it so important to set this movie during 2008 during the recession, when that’s put so far on the backburner, when Ella mentions it, I completely forgot about it being a somewhat important plot detail.
The strange thing about Ella McCay is I’m not sure if I disliked the movie, but I definitely didn’t like it. It’s in a strange limbo where most of it does not make sense. There’s no witty dialogue. Not a single memorable moment in the movie! Even Jamie Lee looks like she’s doing this movie as a favor. Ella has to be one of the most unlikeable characters on screen, when we’re supposed to like her! What did I get out of this movie? Absolutely nothing.
Christian Ramos is a classic film fan, having had the dream to host Turner Classic Movies for years now. He also has a large amount of Oscar trivia in his head, remembers dressing as Groucho Marx one Halloween, and cherishes the moment Julianne Moore liked his tweet.
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