Morning Glory (2010)

When Becky Fuller (Rachel McAdams) gets laid off from her job as the producer of a local TV morning show, she lands a new job as executive producer for "Daybreak," the lowest rated morning show on national TV. Becky has been tasked with improving the ratings of a show that's so bad that it's circling the drain, but the effusive Becky is undaunted. Her first act is to fire the shows arrogant anchor. Then she strong arms a reluctant Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford) into the vacant chair. Mike was once a world class reporter, but he's been sidelined by people with more showmanship. "Daybreak" is everything that Mike has come to loathe about TV news. He also loathes his co-anchor, Colleen Peck (Diane Keaton). The feeling is mutual. When the studio head, Jerry Barnes (Jeff Goldblum), informs Becky that she has only six weeks to raise the ratings or he'll cancel the show, she pulls out all of the stops. She sticks the weather reporter onto roller coasters and throws him out of airplanes, has Colleen playing with wild animals and dancing in a tutu, anything to raise the ratings. When Mike and Colleen start insulting each other on air, ratings begin to go up. Ever surly, Mike refuses every story that he concludes is "not news," until he finally scoops a story about the governor being indicted and manages to get to the governor's house just as the police are pulling up to arrest him. Becky is thrilled with Mike and tries to get him to do more human interest pieces, but Mike is still Mike, still hates the show he's being forced to do, and still refuses to do stories that are too fluffy. When Becky gets a job offer from "Good Morning America," though, the great Mike Pomeroy does an impromptu cooking lesson on national TV, to persuade her not to leave. He even uses the word "fluffy."

I gotta tell you, I was very hesitant about watching this film. I figured Morning Glory was just another rom-com. I couldn't have been more wrong. While there is a romance in the film, it's coincidental to the rest of the plot. The main focus is on Becky and Mike and how one person's faith in what they are doing can change another person's outlook on themselves and the world around them. Rachel MacAdams is wonderful as the over-enthusiastic, workaholic Becky, who runs circles around everyone else and gets her way because of her irrepressible joie de vie. Harrison Ford is perfect as the curmudgeonly Mike Pomeroy, a man who feels that his career has abandoned him and all that he held dear. He eventually succumbs to Becky's charm and enthusiasm, but - and this is what made the movie work for me - he doesn't become a whole new person. He remains a curmudgeon, only now he's a slightly less prickly one. Diane Keaton is great as the prima dona Colleen Peck, who catches Becky's spirit and throws her all into the program. And Jeff Goldblum plays Jerry Barnes as a cold, no-nonsense business man who needs to meet his ratings quotas. The show left me feeling good about myself, an odd thing for a movie to do, but it's true. When Morning Glory ended, I felt happy, upbeat and enthusiastic, like I could go out and accomplish anything. And that's a good thing for any film to do.

Morning Glory is rated PG-13 and is filmed in color.