Ella McCay
Ella McCay
Stars: Emma Mackay, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jack Lowden, Woody Harrelson, Rebecca Hall, Spike Fearn, Albert Brooks and Julie Kavner
Director/Scriptwriter: James L. Brooks
Composer: Hans Zimmer
Cinematography: Robert Elswit
Gracie Films/20th Century Studios
Rating: PG 13
Running Length: 115 Minutes
“Ella McCay” could be a sit-com. There are enough ideas in the script for episodes both humorous and serious. Instead, director/scriptwriter James L. Brooks gives us a short time in the life of Ella McCay (no resident U.S. state listed) with just about everything but the kitchen sink tossed her way. I kept seeing Mary Tyler Moore cast as Ella and the arrangement of stars from her television show to be in the script. What sets “Ella McCay” is the very beginning of the film when Ella’s boss, the Governor, has taken a Cabinet position and Ella, as next in hand, takes over the reins for the following year. Wow, what a jump in politics and the pathway to glory ahead of you. Or is it? Emma Mackey does an interesting job as Ella, who lives life moment to moment in the whirlwind of politics and family problems. The narrator for all of this is Julie Kavner, who, as Estelle, Ella’s secretary, steals her scenes.
As the story goes, after the Governor leaves and Ella takes over, people literally come out of the woodwork for blackmail (being with her husband during coffee breaks) and meeting her father who is a whirlwind by himself. Then, there is Ella’s brother who hasn’t left his apartment in a year and still loves his girlfriend. Trying to hold this family together is Ella’s Aunt Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis) who certainly has her hands full. Amid the complexities of politics, there rings some good as Ella wants to pass a Bill helping families in financial need. Road blocks to anything Ella wants to do.
The cast does well in their respective roles. Emma Mackey has just the right amount of sprite to take the role and run with it. As her Aunt Helen, Jamie Lee Curtis gives another performance of how-can-I-help that rings true. Jack Lowden’s “Ryan, the bad husband” makes you want to toss him out the door as a person who thinks only of himself. Spike Fearn as Casey, Ella’s younger brother, gives “hopeless” meaning in this role, while Woody Harrelson who acts as Ella’s father, shines as a man who cheats on women. You see what a good mix the cast can develop. Personalities are presented and makes you look at your own family to see what is really going on, also makes you wish you had your own family narrator.
“Ella McCay” takes a poke at politics and though set almost twenty years ago, rings a bell in today’s political world. Who can be trusted, who is loyal, why does family act that way and who wants to climb the political ladder by stabbing you in the back. Many angles here and perhaps, too many at one time for 115 minutes. Just when you get involved with one situation, here comes another. Now, for being a woman in politics, the same nuances are there. A woman in power must be taken down. Oh, if that weren’t so, but we see from Ella’s situation, you have battles on all four sides.
Copyright 2026 Marie Asner
