Ella McCay Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

Ella McCay Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 27, 2026

She may not be tossing her hat into the air in downtown Minneapolis, but there's still a kind of Mary Tyler Moore Show-esque feel to the key art depicting this film's title character, as seen on the cover of this Blu-ray. That maybe (?) subliminal reference is of course appropriate given the imprimatur of James L. Brooks associated with Ella McCay (and also featured prominently on the front cover of this disc). And that may be the "rub", since the Brooks name seems to almost guarantee smartly written and expertly performed narratives with liberal doses of both comedy and heart. This is a film that on paper seems to have everything, including of course Brooks himself as writer, director and producer. But add in a typically starry Brooks cast, here including Jamie Lee Curtis, Albert Brooks, Julie Kavner and Woody Harrelson, among many others, and Ella McCay starts to look pretty enticing, until, unfortunately, the film actually starts, and it soon becomes apparent that despite the valiant efforts of all involved, this is one of those properties that just never really "clicks".

Ella McCay may make an uncharacteristically questionable stylistic misstep from the get go with Julie Kavner addressing the camera directly and announcing she's going to be the narrator of the film, in what to my memory anyway is maybe the only real example of a Brooks property deliberately breaking the fourth wall in this particular way. It may have been meant as a way to "invite" the audience into the tale, but the fact there's actually a visual component with a supposed character talking directly to the audience may actually have exactly the opposite effect. In any event, Kavner portrays wizened secretary Estelle, who happens to work for Lieutenant Governor Ella McCay (Emma Mackey). The narrative ping pongs between supposed circa 2008 events, which find Ella unexpectedly elevated to the role of Governor after the existing head honcho, Bill Moore (Albert Brooks), resigns to accept a position in the Cabinet, and much earlier material which tends to focus more on Ella's dysfunctional family. That includes her philandering father Eddie (Woody Harrelson), her (ultimately) late mother Claire (Rebecca Hall), little brother Casey (played by various actors including Spike Fearn at various ages) and her surrogate mother, Aunt Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis).

Suffice it to say that Brooks has stuffed both timelines full of various issues for Ella to confront. In the past, her father's cheating is a trauma for both a teenaged Ella and very young Casey, and her estrangement with Eddie continues after her mother's death, leaving Helen in the maternal role for much of the film. In the present, Ella is befuddled by another male, namely her new husband Ryan Newell (Jack Lowden), whom Brooks announces perhaps saliently in a supplement in this disc is "in another movie", something that may not be a good thing in the long run. Ryan's initial tendency toward goofiness turns out to have a darker aspect as the story unwinds, and a whole ridiculous "McGuffin" featuring the newlyweds stealing a little "alone time" in a public building leading to a PR disaster is just kind of silly.

There are some great little vignettes sprinkled throughout Ella McCay, and Brooks provides a couple of laugh out loud punchlines, but the entire enterprise is strangely listless and probably too diffused with so many characters at cross purposes. Brooks' filmography has pretty significantly slowed down from his already fairly short lived "glory days", and unfortunately the long gestational period this particular production reportedly experienced simply doesn't end up giving birth to anything overly remarkable.

Note: My colleague Brian Orndorf evidently was even less thrilled with Ella McCay than I am. You can read Brian's thoughts here.

Ella McCay Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Ella McCay is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Studios and Disney / Buena Vista with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The IMDb lists the Arri Alexa 35 as having been utilized, but as of the writing of this review fails to specify the resolution of the DI, though source captures were above 4K and I frankly wouldn't be surprised to find out this had a 4K DI based on the largely sterling clarity and detail levels on tap throughout this presentation. There's nothing overly flashy about the style here, and in fact a lot of this plays like a glossy sitcom in terms of general look, but fine detail on all of the practical items like sets and costumes tends to be great. The palette is also natural and nicely suffused throughout. It doesn't look to me like they had much if any budget to de-age Harrelson and Curtis (Curtis at least gets to change hair color), which may or may not be a good thing.

Ella McCay Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Ella McCay features an intermittently immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. There are several interstitial scenes outside around what is evidently the statehouse in Providence, Rhode Island, and those often feature some nice background ambient environmental effects. Some of the press scrum material also has a cacophony of voices that can spill into the surround channels. Hans Zimmer contributes another enjoyable score which also receives a spacious treatment. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English, French and Spanish subtitles are available.

Ella McCay Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A James L. Brooks Film (HD; 9:47) pays homage to the (once?) great James L. Brooks.


• In Good Company: The Cast of Ella McCay (HD; 9:56) offers an overview of the enjoyable actors.


• Bloopers (HD; 1:45)


• Deleted Scenes (HD; 13:44)

A digital copy is included and packaging features a slipcover.

Ella McCay Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Many years ago for some reason I can't quite recall (I may have actually won a radio contest), I was invited to an early preview screening of Broadcast News before its ultimate triumph in wide release, and I distinctly remember talking to a number of other invitees afterward, with all of us agreeing we had just watched something really special. I so wish I had been able to report something similar with regard to Ella McCay, but despite a really winning cast and some occasionally witty writing, this unfortunately plays like a television pilot for a project that is not going to make it to series. One way or the other, you're left with the general feeling that despite her troubles, Ella is going to make it after all. Technical merits are solid and the supplements very enjoyable, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.