Extra! Extra! Morning Glory a Newsroom Smash
Becky Fuller (Rachel McAdams) just got the job she’s always been dreaming of. Well, that’s not quite true. She’s always wanted to be a news producer for the “Today” show, but being plucked out of obscurity by IBS network executive Jerry Barnes (Jeff Goldblum) to executive produce “Daybreak” at 28-years-old isn’t anything to scoff at. Sure the morning news program is stranded in fourth place nationally, and yes the opportunity for it to become a success is slim, but it’s still a network job and for a hardworking news hound looking to make a name for herself this is as good a place to start as any.
Harrison Ford and Rachel McAdams in Morning Glory © Paramount Pictures
Things are worse than she imagined. Seasoned anchor Colleen Peck (Diane Keaton) is fine, but her insipid and narcissistic co-anchor Paul McVee (Ty Burrell) has got to go. But who to replace him with? With only six weeks to get the ratings up or else Becky strikes upon the idea to insert iconic anchorman Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford) into the position, thinking his authoritative presence mixed with her ability to go after stories people want to watch is a can’t miss proposition.
Famous last words, especially as Pomeroy and Peck get on with one another about as well as oil does with water. Undaunted, Becky becomes consumed with making this work and proving to Barnes that she really is the right woman for the job, and if that puts her suddenly blossoming romance with IBS investigative reporter Adam Bennett (Patrick Wilson) at risk than so be it.
While it doesn’t always work quite as well as I wanted to, and while Aline Brosh McKenna’s (The Devil Wears Prada) script runs a tiny bit out of steam near the end, the simple truth of the matter is that I am completely, almost entirely, pretty much 100-percent head over heals for Morning Glory. This newsroom comedy may be more Working Girl than Broadcast News but that’s not a bad thing, director Roger Michell (Venus, Notting Hill) doing a superb job of keeping everything clicking at such a pleasingly robust pace I’m not sure I could have come away from the flick any happier.
It starts with McAdams. She is beyond priceless as Becky. Without question, this is one of the finest, multifaceted and highly nuanced performances of the year. Sadly, because this is a comedy, and due to the fact there have been a plethora of strong dramatic turns by a bushel of actresses this year, it is doubtful that McAdams is going to get the recognition for her work she otherwise would have. Comedy tends to be undervalued, especially by Oscar, and by turning their noses towards the genre voters are going to be missing out on some of the finest work 2010 has had to offer.
Ford matches her. For those who might have forgotten, when he wants to be the action icon can turn on the charm and make his way around a wittily written line like just about no one else. His deft turn in Working Girl was one for the time capsule, and to say he’s resurrected that very same essence here would be a massive understatement. There are times it became difficult for me to tear my eyes away from him, and for all the forgeable missteps he’s made of late here’s a vivid reminder of just the type of multitalented season professional Ford can be when he decides to set his mind to it.
Together this pair lights up the screen in almost unimaginable ways. It’s like Charade-era Cary Grant came across a Born Yesterday Judy Holliday, the two crossing paths at different times in their respective careers yet somehow making it work in a way that is beguiling, charming and beyond believable. Becky is at the beginning while Mike is coming to the end, yet together they craft a partnership that’s full of give, take and genuine affection. While they don’t fall in romantic love, theirs is a love story all the same, he giving her the guidance she didn’t know she needed while at the same time providing him with the spark to revitalize his stalled, if legendary, career giving him the impetuous for a rebound he was sure would never come.
Not that they’re the only reasons for celebration. Goldblum does plenty with a stock character straight out of the cliché newsroom comedy handbook, while Keaton still does her effervescent thing better than just about anyone else. For my part, though, the key cog in the supporting cast machine is veteran John Pankow, rising from recent relative obscurity to remind us all just how seasoned a comedian he can be. He steals scenes with ease, he and McAdams riffing off one another with such effortlessness it was almost as if they had been doing it for eons.
So there were a few too many pop music montage moments for my taste, and as nice as Wilson is in this I never quite bought that his and McAdams relationship was blossoming at quite the rate it seemed to be. The film also has a bit of trouble wrapping itself up, Michell and McKenna working things into a corner they come perilously close to being unable to get themselves out of. What was smooth and unhurried suddenly gets a wee bit bumpy, and for a film that was crackling along in old school 1980’s Mike Nichols/Rob Reiner/Cameron Crowe fashion things come oddly close to going off the rails completely.
Thankfully this doesn’t happen, McAdams and Ford grabbing the reigns putting everything right again. Their last scene together is an uplifting, almost tearful, very much joyous showstopper that was just about the perfect coda to what had been otherwise an extremely enjoyable journey. Morning Glory sent me out of the theatre with a smile on my face and with happiness in my heart, and if that’s not cinematic news worthy of shouting, “Extra! Extra!” about than I’m not sure what is.
- Review Reprinted Courtesy of the SGN in Seattle
Film Rating: êêê1/2 (out of 4)
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