Wake up to see the spry, witty "Morning Glory"
“Morning Glory” is the spry, cutesy new romantic comedy starring Rachel McAdams, Diane Keaton and Harrison Ford. Slight, predictable but still energetic fun, it revolves around the backstage of a “Today”-esque national TV morning show. This thing has been done before and better (James Brooks’ “Broadcast News” comes to mind) but McAdams game energy and the Keaton-Ford chemistry make this an above-average entry in the genre.
McAdams is Becky Fuller, a producer of an early, early TV morning show in New Jersey. She’s fired due to budget cuts but ends up getting the job as an executive producer for the national morning show “Daybreak,” currently in last place in the ratings. She has the unenviable challenge of turning the show around, and brings in a veteran award-winning TV news anchor Mike Pomeroy (Ford) to help add a little credibility, and sparks soon fly as she has to play go-between Mike and long-standing “Daybreak” co-host Colleen (Keaton), putting everyone’s job on the line.
“Morning Glory” is as cute and calculated as you might think, but it’s worth a look for the Keaton-Ford bantering and McAdams’ spunkyness (as a friend astutely noted during the movie, she literally runs everywhere, which is true). The behind-the-scenes look at TV has been done before and this is really just a more comical version of the aforementioned “Broadcast News,” with McAdams in the Holly Hunter role. Roger Michell, who’s directed many from Peter O’Toole in ”Venus” to Julia Roberts in “Notting Hill,” stages many scenes well, especially the fast-paced environment of a TV studio, and the Keaton-Ford scenes.
Ford’s cynical grumpiness plays well against the perky Keaton and their bantering provides some of the film’s highlights. The script pulls no surprises and some may even call it misogynistic in its treatment of the women characters (Keaton in particular, whose role is clearly secondary to Ford) but there are fun moments along the way; add Patrick Wilson for love interest-eye candy and Jeff Goldblum throwing in a few barbs as Becky’s boss, and you have something for everyone.
“Morning Glory” is completely unsurprising and ends as you might expect it to, though in real-life it’d be hard to find any producer who would turn down the opportunities that McAdams’ character does here. Enjoyable, entertaining and mildly forgettable, “Morning Glory” is a good night out.
