Film File - Morning Glory

Think back a few decades to the 1970s and 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show', that iconic office sitcom based around the working habits of an American news station - and mix it up with a dollop of 'Broadcast News', the Oscar-nominated 1987 film set around the same topic. Both written by former journalist-turned director James L Brooks, they are each part inspiration for 'Morning Glory', a film examining television news in 2011 that starts well but fizzles out a bit in the final furlong. Directed by Roger Mitchell, whose previous credits include the acclaimed 'Notting Hill' and 'Venus', the script is by Aline Brosh McKenna, whose past scripts include the considerably less acclaimed comedies '27 Dresses' and 'The Devil Wears Prada'. The story centres on ambitious small town news producer Becky Fuller (Rachel McAdams), who finally lands her dream job by taking the reins of the national morning news show, Daybreak, in New York. Dream jobs usually come with a price tag, however, and despite a full tank of gutsy spunk, Becky meets her personal nightmare in Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford), the seasoned but cocky and unco-operative anchorman who is her only hope for turning around the lowest rated morning news programme in America. Arriving at a show even the parent network is distancing itself from, Fuller puts her career on the line by instigating a series of outrageous audience-pulling stunts to save its sinking fortunes. Mixing the self-absorbed style of former evening newsman Pomeroy with the babbling banter of long-time morning host Colleen Peck (Diane Keaton), Becky bets against the house that this battle of wits and egos will prompt viewers to linger longer on Daybreak and produce an upward trend in the ratings. Add to that a blossoming romance with fellow producer Adam Bennett (Patrick Wilson), and even her personal life is added to the gamble. Hollywood has a long history of building screwball comedies around working women dating, going right back to Rosalind Russell's sharp newswoman squaring off against Cary Grant's underhanded editor in 'His Girl Friday' to Melanie Griffith's humble secretary pretending to be her high-powered boss in 'Working Girl'. Women trying to get on top have turned out to be some of film comedy's smartest and most appealing heroes - a theme screenwriter Brosh McKenna attempts to redesign for a modern audience. Ford and Keaton ignite the main comedy fire here - two old pros in their element, the former boasting of his former exploits 'mopping Mother Theresa's brow during a cholera epidemic' and 'rescuing Colin Powell from a burning jeep', while the latter adjusts her lipstick as she attempts to cook bangers and mash while kissing a frog. The weak link is McAdams as the ditsy producer who can play hardball on the studio floor but who comes over all shy and girly when chatted up by the vapid Wilson. 'Morning Glory' is the classic parson's egg - good in parts, but not enough to deliver on its early promise.