I seem to be on this kick lately of watching films on DVD (like I may have mentioned I see far more films at home than in the theatre). This is often a good thing, because watching films at home allows you to turn them off whenever you feel like it, especially if they are either:
a) completely and utterly predictable and unoriginal
b) start off promising but then fall into similar patterns of predictability OR
c) are just plain boring/sucky (yes I know this is a juvenile word but seriously, I'm getting frustrated with the state of modern films these days)
Unfortunately, after my little rant the other day about a film that falls wholeheartedly into two of these categories, I'm back at it again today with the unfortunate, and truly disappointing slop that is, Morning Glory.
Morning Glory
Starring:
Rachel McAdams, Patrick Wilson, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton AND Jeff Goldblum
Directed by:
Roger Michell. Don't worry I didn't know who he was either, but he directed Notting Hill AND Changing Lanes which I actually quite enjoyed at the time.
On DVD or in theatres? On DVD and Blu-ray
Spoilers? Yes, many. But if it's any consolation - it's nothing you couldn't figure out for yourself five minutes into this movie.
I should preface all the complaining I'm about to do by saying that I am a news/journalism movie fanatic. One of the films I was most obsessed with as a kid was Up Close and Personal simply because it was about two journalists who fall in love. I went to journalism school at Carleton, I make documentary films, I have worked in television newsrooms on and off camera, including on a morning show (albeit a very small, laid back one) - hence the obsession.
Despite all this...I no longer work in journalism, and never really did full time. I do not claim or profess to know anything at all about what it's really like to work full time as a morning show producer for a major television station, as the film's protagonist Becky Fuller (played by McAdams) does in this film. And I suspect that this is actually what the film gets right. I'm sure the depiction here of what it's "really like" to be a workaholic producer for a fledgling morning show is pretty accurate. However, my problem is not with how real this film is or is not; it is with the sheer dullness of it all.
When you have a cast full of film legends that includes two incredibly talented young actors in their own right, even a romantic comedy like this should work. But for some reason it doesn't. And I think ultimately it's because none of them are given anything really funny, original, or even just interesting to do.
Sure, Keaton and Ford (as journalists Colleen Peck and Mike Pomeroy, respectively) try really hard to be hilarious as the aging, cantankerous duo that end up hosting a morning show together. And McAdams puts all of her usual cute smiles and perkiness into this role, although it comes off a bit uneven. I also won't say that I didn't get a chuckle here or there from a particularly crazy news scene.
My ultimate issue with the film is with what I will call the "chick flick complex". This film complex varies among romantic comedy plots, but in this case the formula goes something like this: a girl is so work-obsessed that she struggles with relationships, only to realize the error of her ways by meeting some cute guy who helps her realize there’s more to life. It works sometimes, but when the comedy and romance needed to balance this type of story out are not there – it just falls flat.
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| McAdams, Keaton and Ford getting' their news on. |
It’s also just *so* predictable, a complaint I believe you will find from many a film nut, because we watch so many films. But really, is it so bad to ask for a bit of originality?
To demonstrate I'll explain the plot slightly. First Becky gets a producing job at a major national network that has a failing morning show. It needs better ratings to stay on the air, and Becky needs a job.
She then encounters and subsequently fires a very creepy co-host (played very well by Ty Burrell of current Modern Family fame), only to have no luck finding a new host, and ultimately being led to blackmail a widely respected journalist named Mike Pomeroy (think Dan Rather type) into taking the job. Pomeroy hates the show and the work but is legally required to be on air. He feels that he is above the petty nonsense of morning television and therefore does everything in his power to be an ass. Oh and Becky also meets a television producer (played by Wilson) on her first day of work who catches her eye.
Just by reading this little synopsis – I would be willing to bet that you could predict 3/4 of the rest of this plot. This is how I predicted it: hilarity ensues, the show starts to be successful, the old curmudgeon teaches the young girl a thing or two and learns something about himself in the process, and at the end the girl gets the guy and realizes there is more to life than getting the job at the biggest network.
Sounds about right eh? Oh whoops, too bad that's exactly what happens.
I don't know...maybe this is the kind of film you, dear blog reader, would enjoy. Maybe you think, hey I need a nice "feel good, rom-com" every once in a while. I don't begrudge you that, in fact I agree with you. Some of my favourite films are actually these types of cheesy, easy to watch, easy to relax with movies. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't demand to be thoroughly entertained by these types of films.
Afterall, if they are not being made to win awards, provoke thought or shed light on important issues - shouldn't they at least be entertaining? I think so.
Ultimately, this is standard fare...and for me that's not good enough. It may be enough for you.
Morning Glory is out now on DVD and Blu-ray.
What do you think about my review of Morning Glory? Agree or disagree? I really, really, really want to hear from you! Please leave a comment, I don't bite :)
My favourite Rotten Tomatoes critic's quotes about this film:
"A bizarre celebration of dumbing down that fails to work as satire, comedy or romance. The characters are one-note and a good cast is wasted."
"Basically a self-serving justification for the prominence of fluffy entertainment over sharply written and intelligently crafted stories."
"Presumably, we are meant to find this cute, rather than intensely depressing."
"Little glory in this heavy handed formulaic comedy."
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