"Morning Glory" is a movie viewers have seen before. Those who are even mildly perceptive will notice that Aline Brosh McKenna, the film's screenwriter, simply alters the character names of her successful 2006 movie "The Devil Wears Prada," praying no one will notice.
Even the director, Roger Michell of "Notting Hill" fame, recycles scenes that may have once induced laughter but are markedly less successful the second time around.
The premise is predictable: Pretty workaholic attempts to prove everyone wrong by going from underdog to the top. The standard love story performs its standard secondary role.
What saves "Morning Glory," however, is its cast. Diane Keaton and Harrison Ford remind the audience why they deserve their legendary Hollywood status, while Rachel McAdams performs with her admired charm. She is cute and talented and has eyes that brim with personality. McAdams is undoubtedly one of the few actresses who can render such a neurotic character endearing.
The movie starts relatively slow, oozing with cheese. Becky Fuller (McAdams) appears to be up for a promotion. Despite her non-Ivy League background — a point that is emphasized throughout the movie — she has steadily worked her way up the ranks of the television show where she works. Her love life at that point may be in a dire state, but her driven nature has her poised for success. With her colleagues sporting "Congratulations Becky" shirts, the plot falls back on a predictable twist, and Becky is fired.
Luckily, her charm and determination lands her a job with "Daybreak," a mediocre morning news show. Comprised of an eclectic group of coworkers, including an illiterate fashion host and a weathervane-obsessed reporter, "Daybreak" is a joke.
In an attempt to prevent the show from being cancelled, Becky manipulates renowned TV anchor and "serious" newscaster Mike Pomery (Ford) into being on the show. While his co-host Colleen Peck (Keaton), a former beauty queen, gladly agrees to report on the more inconsequential news stories, Mike refuses, adding another mundane twist: Becky finds herself in the position of having an extremely uncooperative news anchor.
The movie takes a welcome turn toward the comedic when Becky realizes that she must do something to make her show stand out to get ratings.
As the creativity increases, so do the laughs. While the verbal humor of the three stars is entertaining, it is the slapstick comedy of the secondary actors that proves to be the funniest. The film is too scripted to garner genuine laughs in the places that it wants them, but it does still manage to be very funny.
The humor is in part due to the superb chemistry between McAdams and Ford, furthered by the wonderful dynamic between McAdams, Ford and Keaton. The relationship between the bubbly and borderline tyrannical Becky and the grouchy, arrogant Mike ensures that the two are actually likeable. Without one another, the two characters would just be annoying and cranky.
The other relationships in the film are rather underdeveloped.
Becky's love interest, Adam Bennet (Patrick Wilson), comes off as the perfect man without any special characteristics to make him particularly intriguing. He is an attractive coworker who rowed at Yale. The other emplyees pine after him, and yet this does little to explain his appeal to the audience.
The relationship between Mike and Colleen is similarly superficial. Their quick off-air repertoire is witless and extremely petty. What could have been a brilliant pairing ends up flopping.
Ultimately, the movie attempts to achieve too much in its short time frame. Rather than accept itself for what it is, a romantic comedy, it tries to be more — and fails.
