Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Morning Glory - What's Glorious About Morning News?


There’s a scene in Roger Michell’sMorning Glory” where the protagonist’s mom dispenses her thought about “dreaming” at specific ages. And it struck a chord:

At 8, it’s adorable.

At 18, it’s inspiring.

At 28, it’s officially embarrassing.

You have to stop before you get to “heart breaking”.

Coming from a mother, the effect should be excruciating. We are talking about Becky Fuller (Rachel McAdams) who gets fired as executive producer of her New Jersey morning news show. Well, Becky eventually finds another, in a fourth-rate broadcast morning show. She gets to meet her haughty lady anchor Colleen Peck (the adorable Diane Keaton), fires the slimy male host – and ropes in a cranky, cantankerous multi-awarded Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford) who’s repellent to anything but hard news.



Morning show TV producer Becky Fuller


Becky pep talks her anchors Colleen and Mike, who don't see eye to eye.



The film runs with frenetic energy from the voluble and expansive Rachel McAdams who sometimes goes over the top with her theatrics, it could get exasperating watching her. The cat-and-mouse bickering of Colleen and Mike as work politics gets in the way (who gets to utter the last word on screen) gets boisterous too. Am having trouble imbibing the thought that Indiana Jones is a hard news reporter, but on the whole, “Morning Glory” is a throw back, if a tad superficial, to the old glory of 1987’s James Brooks’ film, “Broadcast News” which starred the beautiful William Hurt and the spitfire Holly Hunter (the film received 8 Oscar nominations).

As bonus, Patrick Wilson’s character Adam Bennett talks about the “communist rebels of the Philippines” when Becky drops by his office.

This was fun.



You have to learn to banter with Colleen, begs Becky.


Colleen tries something light and fun... for the ratings.


Adam Bennett is attracted to manic soul Becky, but she's too attached with her work.


Rachel McAdams



Harrison Ford in his younger days (above and below).



Patrick Wilson









6 comments:

sineasta said...

rachel mcadams is still good on my book! the tug of war though between her and the ubertired harrison ford just went for so long! anyway, we had patrick wilson to delight our inner thighs e este thought! :p

btw, my film is online: bata, bata... paano ka gagawin?

part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGz7G7vkRfo

part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnkXRKqEP7o

hope you can find the time to watch it. natatakot lang ako sa magiging reaction mo to it. haha. but put to mind na it isn't perfect. di sumapat ang budget kasi. :)

Cathy Pena said...

Well, put your mind to rest. I liked it. The flow of narrative is smooth and the actors look (mostly) comfortable.

If you're rooting for "funny", you actually succeeded. Congratulations!

sineasta said...

thanks, cathy! i'm glad that you liked it. :)

RM said...

predictable nga lang masyado. hindi pa realistic yung Tulfo act ni Ford sa huli.. Si P. Wilson, parang hired lang para sa movie na 'to para magpainit sa mga kabadingan... :)


Extra: nagiging yardstick na nila ng opinion mo..Congrats sensei Cathy!

Cathy Pena said...

Hindi naman. I think people just want to hear from others who really care about the movies and won't hold back what they think. Alam mo naman ako, I speak my mind. Haha

Been having problems with my laptop so wasn't able to reply right away. Hate when it happens. But having someone to look it now. I'm just using my younger brother's laptop for now. Do you realize how hard it is to write your thoughts from someone else's computer - and you're rushing? Haha

Cathy Pena said...

RM:

It's sad how Mr. Ford fails in this one. It only shows he's probly been rusty. And Patrick is also for girls like me. Haha. I didn't mind his presence. It wasn't obtrusive.