Morning Glory (Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford) : Movie Review
January 28, 2011 by Tony Montana
Filed under Movie Reviews, Movies
Is Harrison Ford a grumpy old man, or just really good at playing grumpy old men? How you answer that question is going to play a big part in how much you enjoy Morning Glory, because Ford is pretty much going for broke here as a grumpy old newshound and the moments of warmth from him are few and far between.
But before we get to him we get a big slice of fairly generic chick-flick material as yet another hard working professional with a ditzy personal life – played here by the usually charming Rachel McAdams – gets the boot from producing a struggling regional morning TV show and somehow manages to score the producing job at a struggling New York morning TV show.
Oddly, this isn’t a stepping stone to anything bigger : morning TV is her dream job, which seems a little like being a writer who’s dream gig is scripting the instructions that come with microwave ovens.
Her devotion to fluff comes into play later on though, as she promptly fires her lacklustre male anchor and decides that Ford’s sourpuss is the ideal contrast to the warm and approachable female anchor (Diane Keaton). He doesn’t want to do it but a contract loophole gives him no choice, and so begins the fireworks as the battle between morning fluff and serious news kicks off.
Much of this film seems designed to ensure the spotlight stays on the Ford / McAdams double act : Keaton gets little to do, everyone else gets less, and love interest Patrick Wilson seems largely there to make sure we don’t think McAdams and Ford are going to lip-lock.
Morning Glory
Unfortunately, it’s not that interesting a pairing.
She’s his boss after all, and while he gets to act up there’s never any real sense that either character really needs the others personally or professionally.
Fortunately most of this lightweight film is funny and charming enough to be at least watchable, but if Ford’s looking to make a serious comeback, morning television – even on the big screen – isn’t going to be enough.
WATCH OUT FOR | RATING : 3.5 out of 5