So I watched Morning Glory…

It’s always such a shame when a movie doesn’t live up to expectations. Looking at this movie’s dvd cover and reading names like Diane Keaton, Harrison Ford, Rachel McAdams and Jeff Goldblum really piqued my interest. Plus this movie was written by the guy who wrote The Devil Wears Prada and directed by Roger Michell, the guy who directed Notting Hill. So when I pressed play I was doing so with a mountain of expectation, unfortunately this movie just lacks any real style or humour. It’s a bit of a let down.

Okay, basic plot: McAdams stars as Becky Fuller, a spunky, determined producer who’s tasked with turning a morning news programme – Daybreak – around and returning it to its former success or risk the show getting cancelled. She decides to do this by hiring senior news reporter Mike Pomeroy (Ford) to co-host the show. Pomeroy is a real grouch and isn’t interested in anything that isn’t ‘real news’. Will Becky succeed? Can she turn Pomeroy around on the value of the ditzy news her show reports? Will you care?

This movie’s biggest problem is time-management. It devotes a lot of screen time to Ford and McAdams, which is to be expected since Ford is the grumpy antagonist that eventually comes around and McAdams is the unbelievably perky sunflower that’s going to bring about this change. Now all the screen time these two received would have been great if there had been some character development to go with it. Everybody in this movie is pretty one-dimensional and none of the characters are memorable at all. I just watched this movie and I’ve already forgotten all of the character’s names.

But not that you ever get to see any of the characters because Ford is busy hogging the spotlight. I would have been okay with the amount of focus the story gives him if his acting was a little bit better. I know you’re playing a grouch but that doesn’t mean you have to be lifeless. In movies like this where a ragtag group of loveable losers band together to transform a failure into  success you need characters with heart that inject soul into the film. Unfortunately when the camera manages to swivel away from Ford and McAdams the other characters aren’t much to look at – they’re wooden and have stale dialogue There’s nothing special about this movie or the people in it.

This movie is lacking a purpose and more frustratingly, it’s lacking humour. Good humour, at least. It’s got plenty of toilet-humour but even that isn’t funny.

It’s a shame that this movie is so bad because you can see that Rachel McAdams is really trying. She’d had some really successful movies before this and her career was definitely on the rise and had this movie been a hit, it really would have launched her into leading lady status but oh well. She didn’t take a complete dive but i don’t think she hit the stardom that she could have.

Overall, this movie is a half-assed comedy that’s lacking purpose, heart and humour. It severely, almost criminally, underutilises its amazing cast and doesn’t have anything it to justify you watching it. There are better spunky comedies out there 4/10