Morning Glory
Director: Roger Michell
With: Rachel McAdams, Diane Keaton, Harrison Ford, Jeff Goldblum, Patrick Wilson, John Pankow
In the first episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Mary interviews with Lou Grant. Grant has a frozen smile all through it, then tells her through clenched teeth, “You’re spunky. I hate spunky.”
Becky Fuller (McAdams) is a producer on Good Morning New Jersey, or somesuch. She applies for a job with the lowest-rated network morning program, on a fictional network. Jerry (Goldblum) has no confidence that she can do the job, but hires her anyway. The male anchor is a porn-addicted dimwit, the female anchor Colleen (Keaton) is a bitter scold who feels that life has passed her by.
Becky is spunky. And perky. And just so darn cute. I wondered whether the director had asked for this level of energy, or McAdams chose to do it. In either case, Becky is just this short of being annoying, despite McAdams obvious personal appeal.
So, when Becky turns out to be smart and tough (she fires the male anchor in front of the whole staff), it is almost too much to believe. She has allies, like her assistant Lenny (Pankow) and a “hot guy” from a network magazine show (Wilson, whose appeal has always mystified me). Against her are Jerry, feeling pressure from the network suits, and Mike Pomeroy (Ford), a former Cronkite-type journalist and anchor, who has become a pompous curmudgeon. When Becky recruits him for the morning anchor, he makes everyone’s life miserable, and the show is in danger of being cancelled.
The good things are Keaton, who does more with an unpleasant character than we could expect, McAdams, who despite her 1,000-volt performance, makes Becky sympathetic, and Goldblum, who practically oozes venom.
Then, alas, there is the improbable script, the unpleasant aftertaste in many of the scenes, and the further proof of the deterioration of Ford’s skills. His character in Extraordinary Measures, another mediocrity filmed in Portland, was pretty much the same, and just as badly done.
So, my advice is to wait for the video, if you want to see this at all. The good stuff is outweighed by the bad writing and direction.
C-