First reactions to James L. Brooks’ Ella McCay have hit social media
The legendary James L. Brooks returns after a 15-year hiatus with a new comedy, Ella McCay. Ella McCay stars Sex Education and Barbie actress Emma Mackey as Ella, a woman who’s fought for everything she’s achieved throughout her emotionally turbulent life as a lawyer turned political figure. Jamie Lee Curtis plays Ella’s supportive aunt, while Woody Harrelson plays Ella’s estranged father, who pops back into her life at the most inopportune time. Rebecca Hall plays Ella’s late mother, with Jack Lowden, Kumail Nanjiani, Ayo Edebiri, Spike Fearn, Julie Kavner, Becky Ann Baker, Joey Brooks, and Albert Brooks rounding out the cast.
What is the early word on Ella McCay?
The film officially hits theaters on December 12, but the first reactions to the film have started to be unveiled on social media. Our Chris Bumbray recently gave Avatar: Fire and Ash high praise, but he just can’t say the same for this movie. In his post, he said, “Ella McKay is brutal. Hard to believe it comes from the same man who made Terms of Endearment and Broadcast News. It just feels like Brooks doesn’t have a handle on making a contemporary movie, even setting it in 2008 can’t help it from feeling like an antique.”
User @adumbsandler seemed to share sentiments with our EIC, saying, “Ella McCay is baffling. Not a single character resembles or talks like an actual human being – it’s like it was written by someone who’s never had a real conversation. Incomprehensible filmmaking on every level: unfunny, overwritten, botched drama. One of the year’s worst films.”
Coleman Spilde, a critic for Salon, also has some less-than-stellar words for the film, as he posted, “sorry to say ella mccay is one of the worst, most incomprehensible, baffling films i’ve ever had the displeasure of enduring. not a comedy, drama, or dramedy but a half-written script dug from james l. brooks’ ‘IDEAS’ folder. feels like talking with a concussion. so, a must-see!” Then, he also takes the Ella McCay Challenge.
Jonathan Sim, who is featured on The Hollywood Reporter and Newsweek, agrees wholeheartedly with the panning, saying, “#EllaMcCay is a lesson in everything NOT to do in a movie. Pointless narration and overwritten dialogue. An alien’s approximation of human behavior. Characters can’t be angry without shouting, ‘I’m really angry!’ Not one interesting thing to say. Incompetent filmmaking.”
Film and TV Journalist, Scott Menzel, broke up the slew of negative reactions with a more positive one as he said, “Ella McCay feels like a film straight out of the late 80s to mid 90s. It’s simple and charming with a delightful lead performance from Emma Mackey. It’s the kind of heartfelt, character-driven story that most studios don’t make anymore. At 85, James L. Brooks proves he still knows how to tell relatable stories with likable characters that will be appealing to audiences young and old. #EllaMcCay”
Josh Parham of Next Big Picture acknowledged the film’s flaws, but overall, the movie still worked enough for him and his reaction read, “ELLA MCCAY was be surprisingly effective for me. It’s a bit sluggish, overstuffed and nowhere near as winning as Brooks’s past works. But there’s an endearing charm that sells a traditional, earnest tone. A solid cast, with Albert Brooks as MVP, made this mostly engaging.”
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