Morning Glory

The wattage in Morning Glory is very high. The stars are Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton, two giants of the screen, plus Rachel McAdams, a very good up and comer. Plus Jeff Goldblum is included for the freak factor. Then, we have Director Roger Michell (Venus, Notting Hill), the writer Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada) and the producer JJ Abrams (Star Trek, Lost). So what went wrong? Why is this movie so bad? I mean my expectations weren't too high. But with Ford, Keaton, and McAdams in the mix, I did expect it to be at least OK. The problem is as always with the script. They spent untold millions on the cast and didn't care enough to have some witty words for the stars to say on screen. That being said, I do get some entertainment value from watching a group of professional actors trying their hardest to rise above the material. And to their credit, the cast of Morning Glory try to do just that.

The plot of Morning Glory, such as it is, follows the ups and mostly downs of the bottom-rated network morning show. The longtime female host (Diane Keaton) is in need of a new partner. She goes through them like drummers in Spinal Tap. The new producer of "Daybreak" (Rachel McAdams) has just been hired by the head of the network (Jeff Goldblum), and decides to go after the network's Walter Cronkite-esque, former anchorman (Harrison Ford). Ford's character is described as "the third worst person in the world." The first two are Kim Jong-il and Angela Lansbury. In case you didn't notice, this is supposed to be funny. Unfortunately, it's about the funniest line in Morning Glory. No wait, the only funny scene in the movie is when Ford goes on a bender the night before his debut on the morning show and McAdams looks for him in every bar in NYC only to find him drinking with Morley Safer, Bob Schieffer and Chris Matthews. 

But if anything, Ford's character is the worst person in the world and very one-dimensional at that. Here's where the "try to rise above the material" part comes in, because Ford tries really hard to get a least two dimensions out of his character, and I did appreciate the effort. The most wasted talent on Morning Glory is Diane Keaton. Did she see a script before she signed on? I can't believe she did. She is barely in this movie, appearing on the set with Ford or McAdams every 15 minutes or so.

Morning Glory is a Ford/McAdams movie for better or worse. And McAdams tries as hard as Ford does to rise above her one dimensional perky-loser persona. They give her a boyfriend (Patrick Wilson), also terribly wasted in his few scenes. See him in Angels in America for an example of three-dimensional characters. At least I sort of liked McAdams' character and (maybe) wanted her to succeed, whereas you get tired very fast of Ford rejecting McAdams' every suggestion even though you know that it will turn out that Ford isn't the worst person in the world and a heart-warming ending. And, Diane Keaton, what a waste. What I won't do is waste more of your time reading this. Don't see Morning Glory. See one of the many good movies that these good actors have been in.