sprite writes
broodings from the burrow

November 9, 2010


morning glory
posted by soe 3:44 am

Tonight Rudi and I had the opportunity to see an advance screening of Morning Glory, which opens later this week.

I admit that I went to the theater reluctantly. Sure, the movie had good names in it, but, while the previews were cute, they just didn’t wow me. If the tickets hadn’t been free, I probably would have skipped the film’s run at local cinemas.

I share this only because I will admit I was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed the movie.

Rachel McAdams plays Becky, the workaholic assistant producer of a regional morning show who aspires to someday work at The Today Show. In the opening moments of the movie, instead of being promoted to the helm, as she and her colleagues expect, she is let go in a corporate restructuring. Set adrift without options, her little boat eventually ends up finding harbor at a dysfunctional New York station, where Jeff Goldblum hires her as the producer of his national morning show, a perpetual fourth-place finisher.

She finds her rag-tag program lacks funding, clout, go-getter staff members, and even functioning door knobs. Her anchor, played beautifully by Diane Keaton, is bitter about where their show stands and the chances this young no-name is going to have at changing it before she gets fired or quits. The co-anchor is a noted lech, whom Becky quickly but theatrically shows the door, leaving an empty seat to be filled on Day 1 at her new position.

The movie features some amusing walk-ons, some conversation about the line between journalism and entertainment, and a romantic subplot. And weaving it all together is a tight script, great casting, and a lot of humor and heart that makes Morning Glory well worth the price of admission.

Category: arts. There is/are 1 Comment.



I’ll add it to the list of movies I’d love to see if I had the time.

Comment by Hillary 11.09.10 @ 12:31 pm