Harrison Ford on the big screen is something of a novelty, but Harrison Ford in a form of a comedy is something even rarer. The last time in fact was his failed 'Hollywood Homicide' all the way back in 2003, so I was quite excited to see the big man back, and so I headed to see 'Morning Glory' with hope of Ford at his best.
I have many positive things to say about 'Morning Glory', I found lots of it very funny, I felt the characters were entertaining and very well acted, but as is often the case it felt like great parts did not, quite, a great film make.
First off, this isn't a Ford vehicle, this is very much Rachel McAdams' movie, her Becky Fuller was the heart and soul of the movie, and McAdams pulls the plot along neatly and with her usual breezy style. We rush through her previous life and job, where she is fired and left out of the profession she loves. Cue many resumes being sent and much phone harassing, and thanks to Jeff Goldblum's network boss, she quickly finds herself in charge of DayBreak, a morning show which was falling into ratings and reputation oblivion. I have to say, the start of the movie felt a little rushed, and we were introduced into some of Becky's old colleagues too much, that when they disappeared from the rest of the movie about five minutes in, it kind of felt a bit pointless. Perhaps skipping to her being fired to start would have been a better starting point. Rushing through it definitely didn't work for me.
Nonetheless, when she reaches DayBreak, and she appoints Ford's Mike Pomeroy into the station after firing one of the previous hosts, the movie really kicks into gear. Ford's voice over the years seems to have reached such deep, gravelly lows that he almost sounds like a different person. If it wasn't for his unique delivery of his lines that makes him so recognisable, you could be forgiven for not thinking this was the man who played Indiana Jones. But that gravelly tone really suited Pomeroy's sardonic, dry, arrogant personality to the ground, and as follows the character emerges as perhaps the most entertaining character of the movie.
Co-host Diane Keaton's Colleen Peck delivers a stellar supporting performance, it's just a shame that the script lacked more depth to her character, when you hire such an actress her highlight should not be a montage of how DayBreak is changing as a show. It was definitely a wasted opportunity, and the Pomeroy-Peck on screen relationship would have been so much stronger if we were given a better off-screen one too.
The movie wavers from the serious to the funny with relative ease, and each scene works on its own, but at times the lack of development of the script let down the movie. Becky's problems with boyfriend Adam were thrust into my face with no prior signs, then a touching moment of kindness from Pomeroy not as heartfelt as it should be because it never really felt like it came from anywhere. It's not that the stakes weren't high enough to reach these emotional peaks from the characters, it's not even that we didn't care, it's that I wasn't given enough depth to be with Becky or Pomeroy as they both tried to mend their own lives. It was a major disappointment, as McAdams and Ford were oozing class and I wanted to 'feel it', but I didn't.
Nevertheless, there are other plus points throughout the movie. It is fun to watch, and I never once felt bored or that the movie had a lull, it's running time is quite short for it's genre, and so it could have had the time to flesh out the characters more.
Also the supporting cast all do fine jobs, Ty Burell and Matt Malloy both have fun as the assistant and weather man, their scenes had some of the biggest laughs, and Jeff Goldblum is as entertaining to watch as ever with the little screen time he was given.
The important thing is that it's a lot of fun to watch, when McAdams and Ford are on screen it's great fun, two of the best actors of their respective generations squaring up against each other. So it was very close to being great, but it didn't quite get there.
But it's a sign that Ford needs to do some more comedy dramas like this. He's still got it folks...
6.5/10
Adam
http://twitter.com/AdDHarris
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