"Morning Glory" got pasted at the box office and stomped by critics, but I truly enjoyed it. It's sort of the inverse of "Network" and "Broadcast News," where the main character doesn't fret about how television journalism is being watered down by infotainment, but wants to turn the dial on Lite News up to 11.
Still, it has top-notch actors in roles they inhabit with clear enthusiasm, exchanging whip-smart banter at a breakneck pace and alternating sweet and sad moments with unhurried efficiency.
Rachel McAdams plays Becky Fuller, a young, irrepressible producer given the thankless — and most think impossible — task of turning around "DayBreak," the last-place network morning show. The studio is literally falling apart, the field reporters are all castoffs and the creepy co-host welcomes Becky by asking to take photographs of her feet.
After the fetishist is given a quick heave, Becky manages to land legendary anchorman Mike Pomeroy as his replacement. Played with grizzled charm by Harrison Ford, Mike is so disenchanted by his fall from grace that he takes it out on Becky, his brittle co-host (an underused Diane Keaton) and everyone else in his path.
Mike wants the show to pursue hard news while Becky is committed to making things friendlier and zanier. As they eventually draw closer, Mike also provides a cautionary tale on what letting work dominate your life does to personal relationships.
Like the show it chronicles, "Morning Glory" ain't Pulitzer material, but it is entertaining.
Video extras are a bit skimpy. There is a feature-length commentary track by director Roger Michell and screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna. But the rest of the goodies are restricted to a single deleted scene.
Features are the same for Blu-ray and DVD formats.
Movie: 4.5 Yaps Extras: 3 Yaps