By Michael Idato
Publication Date: 2025-12-03 01:00:00
James L. Brooks, the three-time Oscar-winning writer and director behind film masterpieces like Conditions of tenderness (1983), Broadcast News (1987) and As good as it gets (1997) and the beautifully dark TV comedy The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977) has always had a problem with Hollywood and its tendency to package everything into a neat bow.
“Hollywood movies always bother me a little when they end with you forgiving the person who was such an idiot and everyone goes along happily,” says Brooks. “And having had a father who behaved very badly, I want to ask if this is a way to throw off the shackles of trauma and move on. That’s what I want to explore.”
Brooks’ new film – his first in 15 years, since the Reese Witherspoon/Owen Wilson/Paul Rudd romantic comedy How do you know that? – tackles this topic with enthusiasm. A comedy drama about an American lieutenant governor who gets her first…