Morning Glory (2010)

Morning Glory

So somewhere in Morning Glory is a good movie, an entertaining comedy about a dying morning TV show called "Daybreak," which is last in the ratings and desperate for attention.  The two hosts of the show, Colleen Peck (Diane Keaton) and Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford) hate each other, and the hyperactive new producer Becky Fuller (Rachel McAdams) is frantically trying to keep the castle from crumbling.  I saw that movie, and I thought it was pretty good and gave me some good belly laughs.  Unfortunately, that movie is only about fifteen minutes long and is buried inside the real Morning Glory, which is a big ol' bust.

I'm not sure where to start.  I suppose the first problem is that Morning Glory makes the hyperactive producer the focus of the story.  This type of character is funny as support, but as a main character, the anxiousness gets old, and fast.  And that is doubly disappointing because the producer is played by Rachel McAdams.  For those of you who don't know me, I am a big McAdams fan: her luminous presence stole the show in Wedding Crashers, she propelled Red Eye into a genuine suspenseful winner, and she even made The Notebook watchable!  But she is misused here, and the movie's cardinal sin is that they found a way to make McAdams unlikable.  She is over anxious, talks way too much and way too fast and is constantly running around around like a headless chicken.  Characters in the film are annoyed by her spunk, and I think audiences were, too.  I know I was.  The movie is then further burdened by a gratuitous romance for Becky, a cliched subplot that adds nothing to the story and just drags on the movie like an anchor.

Why the romantic subplot is even in the film is beyond me.  It's certainly not the relationship that director Roger Michell (Notting Hill) is interested in.  He is more concerned with Becky's struggles with Pomeroy, a grumpy news anchor who cares more about hard journalism than the frothy junk morning shows often churn out.  This is a bit more interesting, and does provide some nice moments for McAdams and Ford.  But it still feels emotionally tacked on.  And it is certainly not where the fun is.

The fun is in those broadcasts.  Colleen Peck is game and willing to do anything to get the ratings up, whether it is kissing frogs or fighting someone in a sumo wrestler costume.  She hates the arrogant Pomeroy who takes everything so seriously.  At a certain point, they just stop the pretense and start openly insulting each other on the air - all while smiling professionally for the cameras.  This is fantastic stuff, and Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton play wonderfully off each other.  This is where the movie should have focused.  That would have been one great romantic comedy.

Instead, Keaton is wasted.  She is given some good material in the first half and then just disappears as an afterthought in the second half of the film.  That an actress of her talent and stature is relegated to an afterthought is deeply annoying to me.  Keaton isn't alone.  Patrick Wilson is wasted.  Jeff Goldblum is wasted.  When it comes down to it, even Harrison Ford and Rachel McAdams are wasted.  The whole movie is a missed opportunity and that is a big bummer for me.  This could have been, should have been terrific.

MVP: I guess I will give it to Harrison Ford.  People have generally ragged on Ford's comedies, and with movies like Six Days, Seven Nights, I can understand why.  But I think that has more to do with his choices as opposed to his ability.  Ford is a solid comedian, with a good sense of timing and a great growl.  When a joke works in Morning Glory, it is generally because Ford is involved somehow.  Granted, he was given the opportunity to shine, while the script pushes Keaton out of the spotlight, but I don't think that should take away from his performance.  For one thing, his deadpan reactions to the insanity happening on 'Daybreak' are priceless.  He deserves the MVP for those double takes alone!

TRIVIA: Don Roy King, plays the director of "Daybreak," and Robert Caminiti, who plays the assistant director, are the real director and assistant director on Saturday Night Live.  I thought that was kind of nifty.

BEST LINE: Mike Pomeroy: "I won't say the word, 'fluffy.'"