CINEMA: Morning Glory

Jan 28, 2011

Written by: Dee Pilgrim

The love lives of young single career women working in the media have provided rich fodder for both TV series and movies in the past. Here, director Roger Michell adds comedy to the romantic mix creating a light and breezy movie that totally wastes the talents of two great actors.

Becky (Rachel McAdams) is a TV producer desperately looking for a job and finally lands one that nobody else wants — producing ‘Daybreak’ an ailing morning news and chat show which hardly anyone watches. What her boss (Jeff Goldblum) wants her to do is turn its fortunes around and she hits on the idea of pairing the existing anchorwoman, Colleen Peck (Diane Keaton) with seasoned hard news journalist Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford).

Pomeroy takes the job because he needs the money but he believes morning TV with its no news news stories is beneath him and soon his snide comments and back-biting with Peck are getting noticed. Becky believes her career is on the line and tries everything she knows to persuade Pomeroy to play fair. Meanwhile, early mornings and late nights devoted to work are jeopardising her blossoming romance with Adam (Patrick Wilson).

Although McAdams is wholesomely lovely and throws herself into the role with enthusiasm she can’t really carry the whole movie by herself. Yet she has to because the characters of both Pomeroy and Peck are so under-written as to become background noise, while Adam is merely a romantic tool and never becomes a real character. Ford has a few good, sharp one-liners — “half the people who watch your show have lost their remote” he tells Becky — but he isn’t used enough, while Keaton is criminally ignored for most of the movie, being left to simper at the TV cameras when we do see her. Had the war of words between the two anchors been beefed up a much better film would have emerged with real bite and pith. Other films in the ‘movies about TV’ genre such as Broadcast News play up the rivalry, politics, back-biting and ego inherent in television and crackle with wit while this rather whimpers.

Author: Dee Pilgrim

Dee always knew she wanted to make her living from writing and so trained as a journalist before working for a variety of music and women’s titles including Sounds, Company, Cosmopolitan, Ms London, New Woman, and Girl About Town. After going freelance she concentrated on celebrity interviews and film, theatre, music and restaurant reviews. Her love of film goes back to her very first cinema experience at the age of five when her mother took her to see Bambi. She cried. At one time she was the Film Editor for NOW magazine and also the secretary for the film section of the Critics’ Circle and the celebrity coordinator for its annual film awards’ event. She has written a number of books for teenagers through Trotman Publishing, including five Real Life Guides to vocational careers (including Carpentry, Plumbing and Catering), and also three books on Real Life Issues (Money, Bereavement and Self Harm). Her favourite film is still Bladerunner.