Morning Glory

Becky (darling Rachel McAdams) is a talkative workaholic who has always dreamed of working on morning tv. When she is unexpectededly fired as a producer, she is given the chance by Jerry (Jeff Goldblum, aging well baby) to become the executive producer of one of the less successful morning tv programmes. Underqualified and overambitious, she fires the reptilian male co-anchor on the first day. The network has no budget to pay for a new anchor. Becky's idol is Mike Pomeroy, a serious news anchorman. To her joy she finds not only is he on contract to the network, but there's a loophole in it which means he has to work on the show, or receive not a penny more. To quote the film, Mike is the "third worst person in the world". Needless to say Mike (Harrison Ford) is not thrilled to be working on a production that has zero gravitas, and a co-anchor diva who has been presenting the show for years. It is up to Becky to make it work, before the show is cancelled in favour of game show reruns.
I've been lucky to have seen two comedies recently that have been funny, intelligent and sweet, this is one and Love and Other Drugs was the first. It's a delightful film. Rachel McAdams is really likeable in a role that could have been irritating in a less accomplished actress' hands. Patrick Wilson is sweet as Becky's love interest. The co-anchor diva is played by, in my opinion, one of the most overrated actresses in the movies, Diane Keaton. Here, however, her overacting and generally predictable 'kookiness' works in her favour and she is a great character. Someone needs to tell old Annie Hall that just because somebody once told her that high waisted pants suited her, doesn't mean she has to wear them in every single movie. They don't suit her. They rarely suit anyone. Harrison Ford is just wonderful. He runs the usual gamut of facial expressions, grumpy and less grumpy. We see flashes of Indi and Jack Trainer (from Working Girl), he does comedy well and he knows how to make himself likeable against all odds. The relationship that forms between Mike and Becky is really touching, as are the relationships formed on the show from a super cast. MORNING GLORY: A wonderful way to start the day. 7/10