Morning Glory

Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton, Patrick Wilson, Jeff Goldblum

Dir. Roger Michell
Scr. Aline Brosh McKenna

Nothing too challenging, a nice light and fluffy piece of cinema to get me back on the reviewing horse. That’s just what I needed and just what I got with my first outing to the cinema in 2011 – Morning Glory is chock full of big name stars and beautiful people, a couple of big laughs and an array of smaller ones, and a feel good buzz when you leave the darkness of the theatre. But that’s really about it.

Morning Glory is a peek into the zany world of morning television. Or maybe it’s a romantic comedy. Or maybe it’s a vehicle for the eternally up-and- coming Rachel McAdams. I’m not sure, and I think this confusion makes for a bitsy movie. McAdams plays Becky Fuller, a television producer whose dream is to work for a big network morning show. She gets her chance on Daybreak – it’s network but it’s an awful, sinking ship of a show, fourth in the ratings and sliding. In an attempt to shake things up, she hires hard-nosed, hard-hitting, multi-award-winning journo Mike Pomeroy (Ford) to co host – think Walter Cronkite (US) or Jeremy Paxman (UK) or …. ummmm …. I don’t think NZ has ever had an example! Let’s just say morning television and Pomeroy don’t mix – he’s a news man, end of story. Added to this sure-fire hilarity (at least that’s what the premise promises) is a romantic entanglement between the work-obsessed Fuller and the dishy Adam Bennett (Wilson). Surely doomed to failure … or is it?

This is a hefty cast, it has to be said. And while they throw their collective clout around with ease, it never quite seems enough. Much hilarity is promised by the mismatched pairing of Daybreak co-hosts Peck (Keaton) and Pomeroy, but we get only a few scant interchanges (some of the best moments in the film). Goldblum (as network bigwig Jerry Barnes) is criminally underused. Ty Burrell (of Modern Family fame) is brilliant but fleeting. Even Wilson, as the romantic lead, graces the screen with his good looks far too infrequently. This leaves us with McAdams and this is clearly her time to shine. Her character, alas, is just too perky, too talkative, too utterly annoying to truly love. I did root for her in the end, to be sure, but it was against my better judgment. McAdams is very hit and miss for me (Sherlock Holmes – bull’s-eye; Time Traveller’s Wife – mammoth miss). I would put her performance in this film in the “miss” category, just.

While the sum of the parts doesn’t add up to a brilliantly funny and zany film, there are moments. And those moments were enough for a lazy Sunday afternoon. Just don’t expect too much.

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Colleen Peck: You happen to be a pretentious, fatuous idiot.

Mike Pomeroy: A fatuous idiot who makes three times what you make.