Morning Glory - Blu-ray Review

In what other romantic-comedy (or warm comedy drama for that matter) would you expect to find Harrison Ford telling Diane Keaton to 'suck it'?

Morning Glory is one of those small collection of mainstream films which find themselves at the apex of a couple of genres and attempts to play up to the strengths of both. Director Roger Michell should be applauded. This could have been a mawkish rom-com involving Becky's (Rachel McAdams) attempts to balance her hectic working life with her interest in mega-hunk Adam (Patrick Wilson). Alternatively, it could have been a horrible drama about Becky's Father issues and the way in which she attempts to cling to Mike (Harrison Ford) in order to overcome them.

Despite successfully avoiding most of the potential pitfalls in both of the above, Michell isn't above blundering in to a few genre clichés. Becky's first date is painful in its exposition laden setup of her work-obsessed television producer. Similarly, like most rom-com efforts, there appears to be some inherent need for the narrative to manufacture a third act conflict, which this hardly needs, wants or warrants. If the genre continues to go down the path of following stock plot contrivances, even when these very contrivances lend little to the overall picture, then its redundancy will only be matched by its extreme predictability.

That said, at least one thing which you suspect Morning Glory might have been tempted to spend time on doesn't materialise. The romance is balanced out by the warm comedy-drama and the feeling of working in a hectic television environment is well realised by Michell albeit, one suspects, in a typically rose-tinted fashion.

The script's unexpected left turns keep both the momentum and the delight prevalent enough within Morning Glory to recommend it. In what other romantic-comedy (or warm comedy drama for that matter) would you expect to find Harrison Ford telling Diane Keaton to 'suck it'? Ford, who growls through this in much the same way as he growled through his pre-release press conferences, hasn't lost any of his magnetism. McAdams is a bona fide Hollywood leading lady and shows it here, as does Keaton. The only really wasted member of the cast is Jeff Goldblum who is stuck behind a desk and asked to trot out mediocre executive-speak. Anyone could do that but the man who explained chaos theory using water droplets in the back of a Jurassic Park jeep deserves better. One of the film's few significant errors.

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'a lackluster knockoff to Devil Wears Prada, minus the heart, cleverness and fashion' - Reel Talk, C-