Morning Glory ** (2010, Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton, Jeff Goldblum, Patrick Wilson, Patti D’Arbanville, Ty Burrell, John Pankow) – Classic Movie Review 4612

Director Roger Michell’s welcome but strained 2010 romantic comedy drama has the advantage of starring the formidable team of Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton and Jeff Goldblum.

The lovely and adorable Rachel McAdams is as bright as a button as young US TV producer Becky, who is fired but then swings a gig from Jerry (Jeff Goldblum) that involves her in trying to do the impossible – revive an ailing morning show called Daybreak.

With devious intent, she talks egotistical serious old news reporter Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford) into reluctantly joining the team of trivial funsters, which means he has to work on air with warring co-host Colleen Peck (Diane Keaton). Becky falls for the handsome Adam (Patrick Wilson) as she tries to save Daybreak from plummeting in the ratings.

Aline Brosh McKenna’s clumsy, contrived, over-broad and all-too-obvious script takes virtually all the realism and pleasure out of what could have been a fun media satire. Infuriatingly, McAdams’s character varies between being ultra-bright and dizzily stupid, depending on what the next joke wants to be, which is a great pity because McAdams really has it all.

Ford goes through the motions with his familiar grouchy grump act satisfactorily, while Keaton desperately plays for slapstick laughs, some of which she actually even gets.

It is painful that you cannot believe a word of it and even worse that you can’t laugh at a lot of it. And so it has to go down on Ford’s list of flops with films like Paranoia, Cowboys and Aliens, and Ender’s Game.

It has no relation to Morning Glory (1933) with Oscar-winning Katharine Hepburn, Douglas Fairbanks Jr and Adolphe Menjou.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4612

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