LOS ANGELES — James L. Brooks’ “Ella McCay”, his first film as writer-director since 2010, opened in U.S. theaters Dec. 12 to bruising reviews and a 22% Tomatometer score. Critics mostly point to a cluttered, old-fashioned mix of politics and family melodrama, even as much of the Ella McCay review talk singles out Emma Mackey as the movie’s saving grace, Dec. 18, 2025.
Marketed as a PG-13 comedy running 1 hour 55 minutes, the film follows an idealistic young woman trying to keep her demanding public job from capsizing her private life, surrounded by an ensemble that includes Jamie Lee Curtis, Woody Harrelson, Albert Brooks and Ayo Edebiri, according to 20th Century Studios’ official film page.
Brooks won Oscars for “Terms of Endearment” and built a reputation for grown-up comedies like “Broadcast News” and “As Good as It Gets,” so expectations for a late-career return were never going to be gentle.
Ella McCay review: The numbers driving the backlash
Rotten Tomatoes: 22% critics score (105 reviews) and 52% audience score from verified ratings as of Dec. 18.
Metacritic: 38, based on 35 critic reviews.
The headline score is harsh, but the more telling detail is how consistent the complaints are. Rotten Tomatoes’ critics consensus calls the film “well-intentioned but woefully undisciplined,” a neat summary of reviews that argue Brooks can’t corral his subplots into a single tone.
A one-star Washington Post review goes further, calling the movie “a halfhearted mess” and flagging its decision to set the story in 2008 while chasing a gentler, pre-social-media political vibe. Even so, the piece notes that Mackey works overtime to make Ella feel real.
Emma Mackey is the exception critics keep making
In many Ella McCay review write-ups, Mackey’s performance is treated less like a silver lining and more like the entire point: she plays a leader who is both ambitious and visibly exhausted, without turning her into a slogan. In The Walt Disney Company’s behind-the-scenes feature, Curtis sums up the dynamic in one sentence: “it could only happen if the person playing Ella McCay was Emma Mackey.”
That praise doesn’t change the consensus that this comeback misfires. But it does explain why the Ella McCay review narrative hasn’t become purely dismissive; the performance gives skeptics something concrete to admire.
A comeback that’s been building for years
The film didn’t arrive out of nowhere. TheWrap’s November 2023 report positioned “Ella McCay” as Brooks’ long-awaited return to the director’s chair, with Mackey and Albert Brooks tied to the project early. Two years later, an ABC7 trailer story highlighted Brooks’ stated aim to honor the “zany spirit” of 1940s and ’50s comedies — a throwback pitch that now reads, to some critics, as part of why the movie feels out of step.
For now, the early numbers suggest “Ella McCay” won’t be remembered as Brooks’ smooth return. Still, if there’s a reason to look past the 22% in this Ella McCay review moment, it’s Mackey’s work — the one element almost everyone agrees is worth watching.
