Dirty Pop: Film Review: Morning Glory

By Amanda

From left, Rachel McAdams, Diane Keaton and Harrison Ford in Paramount Pictures' comedy Morning Glory. Photo Credit: Macall Polay © 2010 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Would I classify Morning Glory as a chick flick? Yes, I probably would. However, any fan of Indiana Jones will be happy to see Harrison Ford; any fan of Jurassic Park or Independence Day will be happy to see Jeff Goldblum; and any fan of Modern Family will be happy to see Ty Burrell.

I was fortunate to attend an advanced showing of Morning Glory last week at Block E in downtown Minneapolis. The crowd was full of Patrick Wilson-swooning women (and a few fellas) who laughed throughout the film and clapped joyfully as the credits rolled.

Becky Fuller (Rachel McAdams) takes the reign as executive producer for a failing morning show. As its anchors (Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton) fight each other about everything from who says the show’s signoff to who will do the show’s cooking segments, Becky seems to be the only one fighting to keep the show alive. As a whole, the film is well cast with a believable set of characters. The only major downfall for me was that as the movie progressed, I knew how it was going to end. Actually, if you’ve seen the trailer, you can probably guess how it ends.

Rachel McAdams in Morning Glory. Photo Credit: Macall Polay © 2010 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

For this twenty-something, it was easy to cheer for Becky as she chased her dreams, and I think many young professionals will be able to relate. I couldn’t help replacing Becky with a number of my friends who are eager to be taken seriously on the job here in the Twin Cities, in Chicago and New York (especially one in particular who works for a CNN morning show, a news-obsessed early riser just like Becky is in the film). In many ways, I could even relate to this film.

Read any number of news articles, studies or books, and you’ll see that “The Millennials,” as we twenty-somethings are often called, are written off as lazy, ungrateful and entitled among older co-workers. In my opinion, these stereotypes are completely wrong. In today’s fleeting economy, employers would be at a loss if they didn’t hire young workers. We’re productive, energetic and social media savvy. We’re not looking for encouragement 100 percent of the time—we’re looking for someone to trust us and believe in our capabilities. Nothing’s worse than being passed over because someone doesn’t believe in you.

One of the TV spots for this movie says, “When no one believes in you, prove them wrong.” I think that’s what most of us are trying to do, and that’s definitely what Becky represents.

Any Rachel McAdams fan will find that she’s as likable as she was in many of her previous films (The Notebook, Wedding Crashers). Her on-screen energy creates enough chemistry with each of her costars that I hope we’ll see more of her soon.

Your turn, Dirty Poppers: Do you plan to see Morning Glory? Anyone else want to run off with Harrison Ford or Patrick Wilson? Should Rachel McAdams stick to romantic comedies? Sound off in the comments, or send a love note to [email protected].

Morning Glory, a Paramount Pictures release, is rated PG-13 for some sexual content including dialogue, language and brief drug references. Running time: 110 minutes.