Morning Glory

One point I will give this movie I didn't expect to give it is that the romantic sub-plot is just that: a sub-plot. It sits a few steps beneath the main plotlines, when it easily could've become the driving force, and I respect that it didn't. It kept the focus on the morning show. Except that the rest of the movie just lays there, doing nothing to make itself notable in any way, so in the end, the romantic sub-plot is a footnote to a movie that, in and of itself, barely is able to tell its own story. It is only through the sheer force of Rachel McAdams and Harrison Ford as actors that this movie has any forward momentum at all. The script has nothing to say about the business of a morning show; it merely presents a show on a fictional fourth network that competes with the big dogs and fails miserably and everybody's miserable, and has a new executive producer that turns the show into a sensationalist stunt show in the hopes of boosting ratings. The weatherman jumps out of planes and gets a tattoo on his ass live on TV. Diane Keaton puts on a sumo suit and "wrestles" a sumo wrestler, and a lizard gets loose in the sleeve of her jacket. It's all stunt-based TV, and there's a fascinating topic there that could be explored about why this kind of crap works, and why people need pablum and light-hearted, forced joviality in the morning instead of actual news, but Morning Glory couldn't care less to explore that. It isn't interested in the debate of news vs. entertainment. It just presents it as a thing that's happening. It's the cinematic equivalent of rice cakes; sure, it's not BAD, but it also has no value, has no depth, and will end up leave you wanting. And the cast tries, by god, they really do, but they aren't given much to work with. Rachel McAdams has the most as a hungry young EP on her last chance in the armpit of morning TV, devoting her every waking moment to making this dysfunctional mess work. Beyond her, though, is a good cast tasked with making a four-course meal out of crumbs. Harrison Ford is tasked with being the grumpy asshole character you see him be on talk shows, in the shell of a Dan Rather type. Diane Keaton is ... a co-host, and I wish I could say more than that, but other than being one of the many beleaguered voices on the failing show, "co-host" is all she has. Jeff Goldblum adds even less to the proceedings as a programming manager. The boyfriend is there because, I guess, what would this movie be without a romantic D-plot? The answer is nine minutes shorter, but regardless, he's here, and he's ... an actor. And the plot beats you can see coming a mile away. Do the co-hosts hate each other? Sure do. Is Ford's grumpy former newsman disgusted by the style and tone of a morning show, let alone McAdams' stunt programming? Sure is. Is she given a deadline to turn around ratings! Of course! Does McAdams sort of stumble ass-backwards into good ideas? You bet! And does she somehow get a better job offer after getting the show from a ratings disaster to a slightly smaller disaster? Yup! It's as predictable as a metronome. On air arguing, an "I still got it" Hail Mary from Ford, an eleventh hour character twist for Ford, a personal revelation about career satisfaction for McAdams ... it's all there, like they went down the line at the cliche buffet. In fact, with a slight bit of tweaking here and there, you could call this "UHF for adults" (or, "UHF without jokes"). Not a bad template, but very well-trodden, and this movie seeks to do nothing with it beyond use it. If you watch this, you're watching it for the actors and their charisma. But you will NOT watch it for the movie itself, because this movie is nothing. Nothing bad, nothing great, just ... nothing.