Morning Glory could have been a welcome break from the circuit of summer rom-coms and thrillers, but Aline Brosh McKenna’s scripting results in a wholly unsatisfying payoff. Rachel McAdams finally gets the kind of lead role she deserves, as the bubbly and hard-working morning television producer Becky Fuller. McAdams is always a delight, and Ford and Keaton have long proven their ability to save a struggling film. From the same screenwriter as The Devil Wears Prada, and with similarities abound, Morning Glory gets off to a great start. Unfortunately, the talented lead trio becomes the only reason to keep watching past the halfway mark.
The lovable and naively determined Becky’s career is this film’s entire universe. Our heroine loses her job - which is clearly her entire life - despite her passion and talent. She’s picked up as the executive producer of dismal morning show Daybreak. With a foot-fetishising and downright creepy co-host (Ty Burrell) alongside the difficult Colleen Peck (Keaton), she has her work cut out for her if she’s to save the show. Despite the fact that no other character seems to believe in her, or even the tanking program, she sets to work like an Energiser bunny. Bless her.
Her first move is to replace the god-awful male host with the even more insufferable Mike Pomeroy (Ford) - hardened journalist and grumpy old man. Chaos ensues, especially as the film touches on the debate between news and entertainment, and apparently settles on entertainment. This felt like a point of character conflict for Becky. She idolises Pomeroy for his career as a hard-hitting news anchor, but seems miffed he won’t report on celebrities and cereal. The whole issue is sadly oversimplified to assume that no audiences want to be informed, claiming they prefer ‘sugar’ to ‘bran’.
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