Romantic comedies have long struggled with sexism, despite their being targeted toward a female audience. Women in the workforce are either portrayed as workaholic bitches or sad, lonely spinsters until they meet the man of their dreams, at which point they realize that happiness is the acceptance of a dashing man.
Morning Glory’s protagonist, Becky Fuller (McAdams), emerges as sort of a hybrid of these two types at the beginning of the film, which results in a horrifying Frankenstein of annoying quirks and willful undesirability. The insufferability of McAdams’s character during the first third of the film is its biggest problem, not only because McAdams obviously gives it her all in making the character as unlikable as possible, but also because of the image it perpetuates of motivated women in the workforce.
Thankfully, the film only gets better as it progresses. When Becky loses her job at a local news station, she lands a gig at an established but far–past–its–prime national morning show. Faced with cancellation, Becky coaxes legendary but notoriously difficult news anchor Mike Pomeroy (Ford) into the co–anchor’s chair. Yet Becky’s problems only worsen from there, as she has to deal with Pomeroy’s frequently psychotic willfulness, dueling co–anchors (Keaton plays opposite Ford) and an impossibly perfect boyfriend who would like to have her attention every once in a while.
Of course, everything ties up nicely in the end, perhaps a little too nicely, even considering the genre. Yet the journey was fun enough, with Ford playing a hilariously exaggerated extension of his grumpy public persona and Keaton putting forth an equally delightful performance as a surprisingly game diva. Fortunately, McAdams also discards character cliches throughout the film’s progression. It turns out that a woman can be successful and find love, as long as she cuts the annoying shit out and gets her act together. Kudos to the writers for acknowledging this truth, and kudos to the cast for giving their all and creating a thoroughly pleasant, if predictable, experience.
MORNING GLORY
Directed by: Roger Michell
Starring: Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton, Patrick Wilson, Jeff Goldblum
Rated PG-13, 102 min.
3/5 Stars
