The Movie Press
  • Movie Reviews
  • Twitter News/Updates
  • News & Notes
  • DVD
  • Box Office Results
  • Contact
  • About Us

Ford outshines "Morning Glory"

11/12/2010

0 Comments

 
Morning Glory
Critics are slightly torn over Morning Glory, the new workplace rom-com starring Rachel McAdams as a morning show producer struggling to turn her middling show into a success. Granted, the film is a little uneven. Does it want to be a workplace comedy a la Broadcast News or does it want to be a romantic comedy with McAdams and the dashing Patrick Wilson making eyes at each other? Well, it tries to be both, but it only succeeds on half of its equation.

For me, even though Morning Glory is splitting critics, the film is, on a whole, fairly delightful and enjoyable for one very important reason: Harrison Ford.  The actor has never been looser or funnier as he is playing the stodgy and cranky former newsman Mike Pomeroy, and for his addition to the film it is worth checking out.

Read more after the jump.

Morning Glory begins with Becky (McAdams) losing her producer gig at a small potatoes morning show in Jersey and her struggle to find ANY job. She eventually convinces an exec (Jeff Goldblum, who is slightly wasted in this minor role) at the IBS network (yes, the name is not lost on me) to give her an executive producer role at their shitty morning show, Daybreak, which is perpetually trailing every other network morning show. There, Becky must navigate an oddball group of people, including lead anchor/diva Collen (Diane Keaton). In attempt to revive the show, she casts the aforementioned Mike Pomeroy, a veteran, award-winning journalist, to banter and report on fluff pieces about kittens or omelets. Cue shenanigans galore.

This would be plot enough to fill its running time, with moments devoted to Becky and Mike bonding, albeit begrudgingly on Mike’s part, and Becky subjecting the weatherman to a slew of attention-grabbing stunts, but Morning Glory decided that it needed more romance and tacked on the plot device of Wilson wooing Becky as she tries to become unglued to her job. This plotline lags. You don’t care about Wilson and his relationship with McAdams, no matter how handsome he is. You continually just long for the camera to go back to Ford, who could quickly take Walter Matthau’s former place as the funniest grumpy old man alive…but, you know….an attractive one.

Ford seems to be having fun with his role here. Mike doesn’t want to degrade himself by diving headfirst into shitty fluff pieces, but Ford doesn’t seem to mind playing the grumpy asshole for laughs, and it succeeds. McAdams is cutesy enough in a role that seems like it was made for a clumsy Anne Hathaway, but she seems to overdo it sometimes by banging her head on the wall and having horrible, little girl bangs.

While Morning Glory may be a tad uneven and drags during its romantic scenes, the presence of Harrison Ford is purely radiant. Each delivery of his lines, with his gruff, gravelly voice, made me smile almost as wide as I did while watching How to Train Your Dragon.

--Darcie Duttweiler
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    October 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    July 2018
    June 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    March 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008

    Categories

    All
    Austin Film Festival
    Darcie Duttweiler Reviews
    Derrick Mitcham Reviews
    Eric Harrelson Reviews
    Eric Pulsifer Reviews
    Eric Pulsifer Reviews
    Fantastic Fest
    Greg Maclennan Reviews
    Greg Wilson Reviews
    Jessica Hixson Reviews
    Mark Collins Reviews
    Monte Monreal Reviews
    Reviews
    Rob Heidrick Reviews
    Rob Heidrick Reviews
    Sxsw

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.