Morning Glory (Rhoades)

“Morning Glory” Is Delightful Wake-Up Call

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

Jenna Stauffer, the young television sportscaster who is part of my Key West family, wants one day to have her own morning show. Kind of like the “Regis and Kelly” format she does with Larry Smith on Wednesday nights at the Bottlecap.

But maybe she shouldn’t go see “Morning Glory,” the new comedy playing at the Tropic Cinema. It might make her think twice.

Sure, the early-morning television program depicted in this silly movie is played for laughs. A young producer (Rachael McAdams) hires a washed-up talking head (Harrison Ford) to co-anchor Daybreak with the by-the-book regular host (Diane Keaton). Predictably, sparks fly.

Keaton is appalled at the hire. “Is he going to cook? Is he going to do fashion statement? Gossip?”
“Not my thing,” growls Ford.

After the career he’s had, he has standards. For instance, he refuses to say the word “fluffy.”
Be careful what you ask for. “Daybreak is understaffed, under funded. Any producer that works there will be publicly ridiculed, overworked, under paid – awful,” decries boss Jeff Goldblum.
“I’ll take it,” McAdams chirps.

But there’s a moral: That if the hard-working, career-driven young producer doesn’t stop to smell the roses, she will end up like the embittered old pro who “had nothing till you came along and hired me.”

“It’s only my job, it’s not my whole life,” she protests. Words she has to learn.

srhoades@aol.com
[from Solares Hill]