Morning Glory

Dir: Roger Michell

2010

**

While I didn't expect Morning Glory to be the next Network, I had hoped that it would at least try to live up to its claim to have been a satire. Clearly Bad Robot studios do not possess a dictionary, as there really isn't anything satirical about it, instead, Morning Glory is an overdone exercise in stereotype that found nothing but contempt from this viewer. Okay, so it's not all bad. As much as I hated Rachel McAdams acting style and horrible attempts at being funny, I still quite like her. The script is beyond awful and listening to every interaction she had with the other characters was like having my teeth pulled out without anaesthetic. Patrick Wilson is equally awful but without the likability of McAdams. I actually really like him and think he's quite a brilliant actor, he just isn't brilliant here, but then his character is so woefully underdeveloped that they could have used a cardboard cut-out instead and had the same results. I've never been a huge fan of Roger Michell films but this is certainly one of his poorer efforts. I would suggest that this film is for the easily pleased, without wanting to insult anyone. Diane Keaton is good though in a role she works effortlessly. Harrison Ford is a bit of a let-down though if I'm being honest. It's a role he couldn't definitely suit, it's just that his grumpy character (which seems to be the real thing rather than an act) is getting a little tiresome. His big scene in the movie is him making a frittata live on air, it wasn't bad except he didn't actually make it properly, which angered me somewhat being a frittata purist but I would argue attention to detail is always important. I wonder if producer J.J. Abrams wanted him to simply get to know him, with the intentions of casting him in the future for a certain space-opera. Like I said, this isn't a clear satire making an intelligent comment on the entertainment-heavy lack of real journalism in TV news, it's really just a girl-done-good in the big city romantic comedy. Nothing wrong with that, it is just that we've seen it all before and done much better (but also worse to be fair). Its origins are based on the Broadway hit The Sunshine Boys apparently but I can't see it myself.