It’s been 15 years since James L. Brooks has been behind the camera, when he directed, wrote and produced How Do You Know in 2010.

He has a proven record for when he does it right, with 1983’s Terms of Endearment, 1987’s Broadcast News and 1997’s As Good As It Gets.

But he can also get it very, very wrong, such as...well, this.

Working as a lieutenant governor is Ella McCay (Emma Mackay). Her boss Bill (Albert Brooks) gives her good news, for him and her; he has been offered a cabinet position at the White House, which he has accepted. This means that, as his deputy, Ella gets the remaining 14 months to be the new governor.

And despite all the worthy projects she wants to push through, she already faces political backlash, having only just sat in the seat, when news of her and her husband (Jack Lowden) where enjoying intimate time together during her lunch breaks – in a government building.

On top of that she also has issues with her father (Woody Harrelson) and younger brother Casey (Spike Fearn), which makes her job the easy parts of her life.

You get the impression that perhaps Brooks has been away from filmmaking for too long. With a great cast attached, it looks like he got some things right, on paper at least – just sadly not the script, where it counts.

It’s certainly character-rich, but not helped by the fact that McCay is just too flaky; she’s likable, in an inoffensive way, but there’s no reason to care for her position at work or in her personal life.

And it’s the interactions with all these characters that dominate the film, almost like self-contained vignettes, as the main narrative has no back bone. And Brooks breaks a golden rule of cinema: don’t let the characters around your main protagonist be more interesting than they are, which is the case here.

The result is a bland, uninteresting look at a bland, uninteresting young woman, in her bland, uninteresting job.

Brooks has proven himself as a well-crafted writer in the past, but as his last good film was 1997’s As Good as it Gets, this is just another film since then that lacks the dynamism and quick-wit that many of his films are renowned for.

Perhaps at the ripe old age of 85, the veteran American director should consider retirement, that may be supported by its appalling box office takings, with its $35 million budget managing only a paltry $4.5 million return, offering brutal evidence that it’s as bad it gets.