With films such as Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News, and As Good As It Gets, writer/director/producer James L. Brooks carved out a particular brand of aww-shucks heartwarming cinema, and 15 years after his last big-screen effort (the dreary How Do You Know), he revisits familiar stomping grounds with Ella McCay (December 12, in theaters).

Unfortunately, it’s a borderline-abysmal return engagement, so across-the-board affected that it feels less like a classic Brooks effort than someone doing their best Brooks impersonation. With its phoniness epitomized by Emma Mackey’s lead turn, it’s the biggest dud of the artist’s career, and the holiday season’s most egregious misfire.

Giving a performance that resonates as Anne Hathaway cosplay, Mackey is Ella McCay, the 34-year-old lieutenant g

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