SMART COMEDIES FOR GROWN-UPS? WITH POLITICS?

YES, BUT YOU NEED THE RIGHT TOUCH. THAT'S WHERE FILMMAKER JAMES L. BROOKS COMES IN, WITH THE RICHLY WARM 'ELLA MCCAY.'

- BY MARK OLSEN

IT’S EASY to say that James L. Brooks loves his characters. You probably love them too: Mary Richards on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” Shirley MacLaine’s Aurora Greenway in “Terms of Endearment,” Holly Hunter's neurotic news producer Jane Craig in “Broadcast News,” having her regular morning cry.

With a legendary career in film and television as a writer, director and producer (winning three Oscars and more than 20 Emmys), Brooks has practically trademarked a certain kind of warm, affectionate storytelling, in which imperfect characters emerge as resilient and touching, while also being very human and funny.

His latest movie, “Ella McCay,” his first in 15 years (it’s in theaters Friday), bears the filmmaker’s signature touch. Although in describing his loving relationship to his characters, Brooks, always with an eye for detail, takes exception to one thing.

“I’m just questioning the word ‘love,’” says Brooks, 85, turning the idea over in his mind. “I want to know them as people. I want to be true to them as people. And I think almost everybody in the picture is flawed.”

An expressly political comedy set in a relatively manageable but unnamed American state in 2008, “Ella McCay” follows the 30s-ish title character (Emma Mackey) as she is tapped to move up from lieutenant governor to governor when her ambitious, charismatic boss (Albert Brooks) is picked to be secretary of the Interior. She is immediately embroiled in a relatively harmless sex scandal involving her husband (Jack Lowden) while also constantly worrying about her overprotective aunt (Jamie Lee Curtis) and agoraphobic brother (Spike Fearn). The cast includes Woody Harrelson, Kumail Nanjiani, Ayo Edebiri and Rebecca Hall.