The movie Ella McKay stars Emma Mackey as the main lead along with a solid roster of notable cast members like Jaime Lee Curtis and Woody Harelson to name a few. It was directed by James L. Brooks. This is a drama about Ella McKay not only navigating hardships from her newfound governor status at just 34 years old, but also dealing with long-term personal drama and baggage she carries from the straining relationship with both her dad and her husband.
Not a preface, I have to say that the previews for this film gave me mixed feelings. I thought it felt tonally all over the place and I didn't get the best sense that this would turn out to be a cohesive drama. But I still wanted to give this the benefit of the doubt by checking it out. And after seeing it, I must say that this was indeed a messy experience.
For the cast it wasn’t bad all, especially with the screenplay they were working with. Emma Mackey had some great performances sprinkled throughout the film and carried a level of charisma needed for the main protagonist here. And thankfully, the synergy between Emma Mackey and Jaime Lee Curtis shined through when it mattered the most, as they were one of the more fundamental relationships for this entire drama to work. And I also thought all the other cast members did a great job owning up to their roles, so kudos to everyone involved.
This film also had a few really effective moments of heartfelt drama in various segments throughout the acts, which I appreciated. It's a bummer that more often than not, I found the story segments to miss the mark by a good amount.
But for the story, it sorta felt all over the place. For example, as much as I enjoyed the brother arc in this film compared to some of the other segments, it still felt like an unnecessary side story that didn't do much for Ella McKay's personal journey. There are also some intense douchebag characters here with absolutely zero redeeming factors to them, and I don't understand why Ella McKay continued to put herself through the ringer like that for so long in this general story premise.
Also, the film did feel like a slo to get through at different sports of moments throughout the 1 hour and 55minute runtime. It's safe to say that there's too many slowburn moments with very little payout by the conclusion of it all.
I’ll say the ending was serviceable for allowing Elma Kay's journey to come full circle, yet the point in which we arrived there was absolutely messy and flawed for me to care as much by the end.
As for my final con, I found some general dialogue exchanges to feel mediocre at best, and it did throw me off guard ever so slightly at times.
For my rating, I’ll give Ella McKay is 5.5 out of 10. This was an all right one-time watch experience for me. I really wish the film proved me wrong from the feeling I got from the trailers, but this was undoubtedly a film that had some shiny flaws pierced through which are more than enough for me to feel bummed out at the end of it all.