Morning Glory

At a loss of what to do, on a whim, I decided to go to the cinema. Being the opening night of 'Black Swan', I decided to leave that particular feature for another day. There were a few horrors, a few kids movies and then there was Morning Glory.

The Plot: Morning Glory is the story of one enthusiastic workaholic, Becky Fuller (Rachael McAdams), who is fired from her job at a Morning television show. Unemployed and desperate, she jumps at the offer of Executive Producer for a low budget, failing Morning show. The presenter of which, is the sour wannabe diva Colleen Peck (Diane Keaton) and the employees of which are under constant pressure to raise the audience ratings. Determined to prove her boss wrong, Becky Fuller goes to great lengths to improve the standard. One of her missions, is to employ world famous reporter, (and the third most horrible person in the world) Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford) as co-presenter.

My Opinion: There are some movies that leave you indifferent. You walk out of the theater, shrugging your shoulders and contemplating what to cook for dinner. Then there are those, that leave you with a definite emotion. Morning Glory, for me, was the latter. As the closing credits scrolled, I was inspired. I skipped out with a can-do spirit. Maybe its due to Rachel McAdam's contagious radiance. Maybe its Harrison Ford's excellent acting. Maybe it was the simple plot, and happy ending. I don't really know. All I know, is that even now, the after effect of this light comedy- was pure conviction that anything can happen, if you work hard and really want it.

To put it plainly, this romantic comedy was a pleasure to watch. And an excellent remedy for someone whose a little hopeless in these difficult financial times.

Rachel McAdams is taking the lead this time in a rom-com that adds a little pathos, shows the rest of the world what it's like to be totally committed to a job (being a former workaholic, I can totally relate to this.) The pace is set at "sprint" and actually does a great job of going the distance. 10 cuts above a sit-com, but could possibly be turned into a very successful one about a fictional struggling #4 slot on the network morning show circuit. Adding to the mix and a lot of credibility, Jeff Goldblum, Dianne Keaton, and Harrison Ford, looking every bit his 60+ years, but still has a boyishness to his demeanor that hearkens back to Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Patrick Wilson is the rom in "rom-com" and he holds his ground against the whirling dervishness of Rachel's character. The writing is outstanding and the one-liners, priceless. Check it out.

This film is about a young executive producer's struggle to revive an unpopular morning show.

I thought "Morning Glory" is just another romantic comedy that happens to be set in a television setting, but it pleasantly surprised me. The plot in fact focuses a lot more on the stress and frustration of being an executive producer, with romance being sidelined as an almost dispensable subplot. The intensity of Becky's job is well portrayed, the two anchors' verbal wars and Mike's indifferent and selfish attitude all makes "Morning Glory" entertaining to watch. "Morning Glory" is a pleasant surprise!

It's a bit cheesy.

But has a seriously sweet story and great message.

It could do without the romance.

It made me laugh out loud, so that's a plus.

It has Rachel McAdams, so I don't think it's humanly possible for me to give this movie (or any movie starring Rachel McAdams for that matter) anything lower then 7 stars. I think I love her.

Rachel if you're seeing this find me. (Why would she see this?) Harrison Ford plays a very Harrison Ford esc role, it's funny and it works.

Diane Keaton is surprisingly pleasant in this. She has a fun little arc.

Rachel McAdams. Wow I means she knocked it out of the park. How couldn't she? With those bloody dimples.

Anyways, yeah it's good! Little cheesy. But good.

Finally a comedy from Hollywood that is both refreshing and funny. Rachel McAdams leads 'Morning Glory' as a workaholic TV producer who finally gets a break...but with the 'worst morning show'. Now she only has little time to save the show from tanking and this is much more difficult than what she had anticipated as she has to deal with various obstacles and chaos. In the hope of a solution, she manages to recruit renowned news anchor Mike Pomeroy but that only makes her work more difficult.

All the actors share a warm chemistry. Rachel McAdams gracefully carries the film. She's charming, funny, energetic, spontaneous, ditzy and spot on, which is exactly what Becky is supposed to be. McAdams performs naturally. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that, while she was cast alongside legends like Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton, the two senior actors allow McAdams to own 'Morning Glory'. Ford in turn is splendid as the grumpy and slightly arrogant newscaster. This is perhaps his funniest role and the actor obviously has a flair for comedy. I loved his scenes with McAdams where the two match wits. A laidback Diane Keaton, even though her screen time is limited, makes the best of her scenes and she's simply hilarious. The supporting cast that includes Jeff Goldblum, Patrick Wilson, John Pankow, Matt Malloy, Ty Burrell and Patti D'Arbanville is equally convincing.

Not only does 'Morning Glory' work as a comedy but it also tells a heartwarming story of a workaholic young lady who finally becomes a TV producer but she learns that success comes from good teamwork and in the process she creates a family. Even though the story sounds familiar, the humour and the cast more than make up for it.

On the technical side, 'Morning Glory' is very well made. The behind the scenes look of the morning TV show appeared very real thanks to the art direction. I didn't like some of the songs that played in the background but otherwise the soundtrack works (and it's barely an issue).

To sum it up, 'Morning Glory' is exhilarating and uplifting. I was smiling long after the end credits have finished rolling. This is definitely a movie to watch on a quiet evening after a tired day at work or on a rainy day. It's something one can easily enjoy with a date, with friends and with the family.