The politician no one would ever vote for

James L. Brooks's first film as director in fifteen years could be a charming anachronism if its development weren't so chaotic and its characters so archetypal that, at times, they're downright embarrassing. Brooks, a renowned director of actors who helped Jack Nicholson win two of his three Oscars (for The power of tenderness and It couldn't be better.), seems to have abandoned its star-studded cast (Jamie Lee Curtis in a histrionic role, a wasted Woody Harrelson, and a charismatic Albert Brooks, whom it's always a pleasure to see again) to make believable characters as superficial as the democratic values ​​of the politicians the filmmaker wants to criticize.

Emma Mackey (her whole being an irritating grimace) plays Ella McCay, a young politician who, in her first three days as governor, must deal with a traumatic past, a brother with agoraphobia, and a horrible husband; a brief period in which, like Ella, the film wanders aimlessly between government offices, her brother's apartment, and her aunt's bar. The protagonist's stubborn idealism evokes some of Capra's characters (Knight Without a Sword (it's the most direct reference point), but the excessive sentimentality and the exasperating eccentricity of the characters cause a film full of good intentions (and a brilliant cameo by Julie Kavner, voice of Marge Simpson and actress with whom Brooks, producer and co-creator ofThe Simpsons(has been collaborating for years) will irretrievably lose the vote of its electorate.