Morning Glory
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Morning Glory is a 2010 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Roger Michell and written by Aline Brosh McKenna. Starring Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton, Patrick Wilson and Jeff Goldblum, the film tells the story of an upstart television producer who accepts the challenge of reviving a morning show program with warring co-hosts.

Morning Glory was released in theaters on November 10, 2010, by Paramount Pictures. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $60 million against a $40 million budget.

Plot

Aspiring news producer Becky Fuller (Rachel McAdams) has dreamed since childhood of working for the Today show, but her dedication to her career is off-putting to potential suitors. She is laid off from her job at Good Morning New Jersey, and her mother advises her to give up her dream before it becomes an embarrassment. Becky perseveres, and receives a call from IBS News, which is seeking a producer for its struggling national morning show, DayBreak.

After a discouraging job interview with executive Jerry Barnes (Jeff Goldblum), who dismisses both her and DayBreak as also-rans, Becky is brushed off in the elevator by one of her heroes, veteran television journalist Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford). Seemingly against his better judgement, Jerry hires Becky as DayBreak s executive producer, and she moves to New York City.

On her first day, Becky realizes she has signed on to a show in turmoil, lacking in direction and money. After meeting acerbic, long-suffering co-host Colleen Peck (Diane Keaton), Becky fires the lecherous co-host Paul McVee (Ty Burrell), to her co-workers’ delight. She chooses an unwilling Mike as Colleen s new co-host; under contract to IBS, Mike has escaped being utilized while still getting paid. Becky finds a clause in Mike s contract requiring him to accept an official job offer or lose his salary, forcing him to comply.

Becky meets Adam Bennett (Patrick Wilson), a fellow IBS producer who worked with the difficult Mike. They begin dating, and he is initially supportive of her dedication to her job. Contemptuous of morning television, Mike tries to sabotage his DayBreak debut by getting drunk. He refuses to banter, rejects segments he feels are beneath him, and antagonizes Colleen.

Jerry informs Becky that IBS wants to cancel DayBreak, blaming her for the ratings’ further slump. After a heated confrontation with Mike, Becky snaps and decides on a radical approach to save the show. Persuading Jerry to give her the show s remaining six weeks to vastly improve ratings, Becky sends Ernie (Matt Malloy), DayBreak s weatherman, on stunts such as riding roller coasters and skydiving. Colleen joins Becky s campaign to rejuvenate the show, appearing in colorful segments that help the show s ratings, but Jerry remains unconvinced. Adam, not realizing what is on the line, teases Becky about how caught up she is in improving the ratings; seeing this as a criticism she has heard from other men, Becky walks out.

With the six-week deadline approaching, Mike shows interest in doing a story on a sauerkraut festival, surprising his colleagues. Becky accompanies him, but realizes he is going to the Governor s summer house instead, and informs him that the show will be cancelled. Undeterred, Mike confronts the Governor on charges of racketeering, breaking the story of his arrest on live television. Mike tells Becky that he was similarly over-committed to his job, at the expense of his family and personal life.

The live arrest increases DayBreak s ratings enough to secure another year for the show, and Becky receives a job offer from the “Today” show. She reconnects with Adam, and lashes out at Mike for his stubbornness. Becky accepts the job interview, with DayBreak on in the background. When Colleen tells Mike that his refusal to adapt has driven Becky away, he walks off air and storms the kitchen. Becky watches in shock as Mike presents a cooking segment, expertly showing viewers how to make a frittata. Becky runs back to the studio, and decides to remain at DayBreak.

Cast

  • Rachel McAdams as Becky Fuller, the new executive producer of DayBreak, the fourteenth in eleven years, challenged with improving the show s ratings.
  • Harrison Ford as Mike Pomeroy, a serious news journalist and anchor who has worked in television for over forty years. He is unhappy at having to co-host a show that does not deal with real news stories.
  • Diane Keaton as Colleen Peck, the host of DayBreak for the past eleven years, in which time she has gone through several co-hosts and executive producers.
  • Patrick Wilson as Adam Bennett, another producer at IBS, who begins dating Becky.
  • John Pankow as Lenny Bergman, the long-term senior producer of the show.
  • Jeff Goldblum as Jerry Barnes, a network executive, he tasks Becky with turning the show s ratings around.
  • Matt Malloy as Ernie Appleby, the DayBreak weatherperson.
  • Ty Burrell as Paul McVee, the co-host of the show at the beginning of the film. Becky immediately fires him because of his negative effect on staff morale.
  • Patti D Arbanville as Mrs. Fuller, Becky s mother.
  • Adrian Martinez as IBS Lobby Guard
  • Curtis 50 Cent Jackson, Lloyd Banks, and Tony Yayo as themselves.
  • Chris Matthews, Morley Safer, Bob Schieffer, Jonathan Bennett, and Elaine Kaufman make cameo appearances.

Production

The premise of the film was partially inspired by Neil Simon s The Sunshine Boys, where Harrison Ford s role was akin to Clark while Diane Keaton s role was akin to Lewis and Rachel McAdams role was akin to Clark s nephew Ben. Screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna and producer J. J. Abrams dreamed of having Harrison Ford in the film from the point of early script development. Shortly after Abrams cast Harrison Ford as Mike Pomeroy, Roger Michell took over as director.

Despite their long careers in Hollywood, Keaton and Ford had never met prior to Morning Glory. Harrison Ford explained: We have been working in the same business, different branches of the business. She was in the intellectual branch and I was in the running, jumping and falling down branch. So, we never had the chance to work together. But it was a real pleasure to finally get that opportunity. Morning Glory marked Keaton s and McAdams second film together. They previously co-starred in the 2005 comedy drama The Family Stone. Billed as a starring vehicle for McAdams, she initially felt she was unsuited to the role because I m not funny. So I said, if you need me to be funny, you might want to look somewhere else . Roger Michell, the film s director, had a number of dinners with McAdams and persuaded her to join the cast.

Music

The film s theme song is Strip Me by Natasha Bedingfield. A song called Same Changes by The Weepies was recorded exclusively for the film. David Arnold also composed the film score. No official soundtrack was released, though the following songs were used in the film:

No. Title Length
1. Free Me (Joss Stone)  
2. Waiting For My Real Life To Begin (Colin Hay)  
3. Incredible (Joss Stone)  
4. New Shoes (Paolo Nutini)  
5. Open Spaces 4 (Ray Yates)  
6. Prelude and Fughetta in G Major (Johann Sebastian Bach)  
7. Stuck in the Middle with You (Michael Bublé)  
8. Five PM (Courtesy of Hollywood Edge)  
9. Don t Hold Me Down (Colbie Caillat)  
10. Johnny Got a Boom Boom (Imelda May)  
11. Two Sleepy People (Hoagy Carmichael)  
12. Finale from String Quartet in B-Flat Major (Kodály Quartet)  
13. Happy Birthday to You (Mildred J. Hill & Patty S. Hill)  
14. Same Changes (The Weepies)  
15. Candy Shop (50 Cent featuring Olivia)  
16. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky)  
17. Are You Here (Corinne Bailey Rae)  
18. Gone in the Morning (Newton Faulkner)  
19. Strip Me (Natasha Bedingfield)  

Reception

Box office

The film was originally scheduled for release on July 30, 2010, in the U.S. It was then pushed back to November 12, 2010. Finally, Paramount Pictures shifted the release date to November 10, 2010. In its opening five days, Morning Glory earned about $12 million at US box offices, which was considered a poor result for a film with major stars like Keaton and Ford. On its release date, it debuted at number 3 behind Due Date and Megamind, though the next day it dropped to fourth place when For Colored Girls beat it to third. It kept on switching from fifth to fourth place several times until November 19, when it dropped to sixth. For the week of November 19–24, it stayed at number 6 until finally sliding to tenth place. It stayed in theaters until January 20, 2011. Ultimately, the film earned more than $31 million in the United States, and over $27 million internationally for a worldwide total of almost $59 million.

The press emphasized that it was another box office disappointment for Ford. With the exception of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Harrison Ford had not had a hit for a decade. Steven Zeitchik wrote in the Los Angeles Times: What s most disappointing about Morning Glory is that, after a decade without a comedy, Ford s turn in something more spry was supposed to mark a new chapter by getting him back to his crowd-pleasing ways. But the movie s disappointing performance adds one more nail in a coffin that s been enveloping Ford s career, Buried -style, for years. Jeff Bock, a box-office analyst with Exhibitor Relations, told TheWrap: When Ford wears that iconic hat, he can still crack the box office bullwhip, but outside of Indy it s become a tougher case.

BoxOffice.com editor Phil Contrino said: I m not quite ready to write this film off as a disappointment. I think it s going to show healthy staying power in the weeks to come. It s skewing older, so that means the audience it appeals to doesn t feel the need to necessarily rush out during the opening weekend. It s a funny movie with plenty of pep, and I think a lot of moviegoers will still discover it. McAdams was disappointed that the film failed to find a larger audience, remarking that I only hear these businesspeople: Well, no one was sure who it was for.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 55% based on 178 reviews, with an average rating of 5.98/10. The website s critical consensus reads, It s lifted by affable performances from its impeccable cast, and it s often charming – but Morning Glory is also inconsistent and derivative. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 57 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews . Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of B on an A+ to F scale.

One of the main criticisms about Morning Glory was that the film did not provide any substance about television and the media unlike Network (1976) or Broadcast News (1987). Peter Howell of the Toronto Star wrote: You ll think of Broadcast News and Network watching it, and possibly lament how the film ducks the tough issues of media accountability and culpability that those films dealt with decades ago. (…) Are they trying to say anything meaningful about television and the media? If so, they ve failed. Stephen Whitty of The Star-Ledger noted that Broadcast News, as opposed to Morning Glory, was also about something – the conflict between faked telegenic moments and hard-news reality (…) And that s what made it not just a fun film but a classic. He concluded: It s a good enough movie. But it came this close to being great.

The critics who enjoyed Morning Glory pointed out that the film was funny and entertaining. James Berardinelli of ReelViews wrote: Despite the conventional manner in which the story is resolved, Morning Glory generates enough entertainment, good will, and genuine laughs to make it hard to dislike It fits into a shrinking category: the old-fashioned, not-too-raunchy, character-based comedy. It s gentle, unforced and, despite its flaws, likeable. It doesn t blaze new trails or astound with its wit but, more likely than not, you ll leave the theater with a smile, and that s certainly worth a recommendation. Lou Lumenick of the New York Post said: This unofficial update on the news-vs.-fluff wars does get in some good shots at the wacky world of morning television…. It includes more than a few clever lines, and boasts a stellar cast. Andrew O Hehir of Salon described the film as a brash, lightweight backstage comedy that looks lovely, doesn t insult its audience and uses its stars, both young and old, to terrific effect. Ty Burr of The Boston Globe wrote: The movie s a pleasant and occasionally hilarious ride, even if there s a bait-and-switch at its core. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded Morning Glory three-and-a-half stars out of four. He stated: Morning Glory is funny entertainment to begin with, and then Rachel McAdams transforms it. And Harrison Ford transforms himself. (…) This is the kind I like best. It grows from human nature and is about how people do their jobs and live their lives.

Most critics stressed that one of the assets of the film was the performances of its all-star cast. Harrison Ford got strong reviews for his performance in the film. Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said: Ford doesn t venture beyond his usual acting range, but within it he creates a character with a reluctantly human inside. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called the film a tart, terrific comedy that gives Harrison Ford his best and funniest role in years. He added: The iconic Han Solo and Indiana Jones shows real comic chops as Mike Pomeroy. According to Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly, Ford is still a magnetic hunk of gray-granite movie star, and in Morning Glory, he finds a way to trick up his deadly somber, shifting-quicksand delivery into a shrewd and amusing acting style. Joe Neumaier of the New York Daily News wrote that Ford is the most casual he s been since Working Girl, while Colin Covert of the Minneapolis Star Tribune stated: Ford s gravitas and comedic irritability are in perfect balance here. Rex Reed of The New York Observer noted: All of which gives Harrison Ford a role that fits him like a condom. He gets to be gruff, granite-faced, mean-spirited, rude and pessimistic, never cracking a smile and scowling like a rat just died in the studio s air-conditioning pipes…. The cast is perfect (scowling irascibly like Clifton Webb, Mr. Ford has never been this good).

Several critics also liked McAdams performance. Manohla Dargis wrote in The New York Times: Ms. McAdams plays her role exceptionally well: as the young actress on the verge of the big time, who can win the boy, tame the beast, flash her panties and make you smile without making you cringe, she is a natural. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times stated: Though the film s advertising gives the impression that McAdams is one among equals, the reality is that this is her show. (…) she s never carried an entire film as completely and as easily as she does here. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times compared Rachel McAdams performance to Amy Adams Academy Award nominated role in Junebug. Keaton s performance was praised as well. According to ReelViews, Keaton is so good at her part that one can see her sliding effortlessly into an anchor s chair on a real morning show. Critics said that there was good chemistry between Diane Keaton and Harrison Ford. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone stated: Ford and Keaton are delicious together. For Rex Reed, Some of the on-camera bitchery between Mr. Ford and Ms. Keaton is laugh-out-loud witty. But it was also noted that Keaton was underused in the film.

Accolades

Artios Award (Casting Society of America) Outstanding Achievement in Casting — Comedy Ellen Lewis Nominated
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award Best Original Song Strip Me Nominated

Year 2010
ReleaseDate 2010-11-10
RuntimeMins 107
RuntimeStr 1h 47min
Plot An upstart television producer accepts the challenge of reviving a struggling morning show program with warring co-hosts.
Awards Awards, 1 win & 3 nominations
Directors Roger Michell
Writers Aline Brosh McKenna
Stars Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton
Produced by J.J. Abrams,Bryan Burk,Sherryl Clark,Udi Nedivi,Guy Riedel,Lindsey Weber
Music by David Arnold
Cinematography by Alwin H. Küchler
Film Editing by Dan Farrell,Nick Moore,Steven Weisberg
Casting By Marcia DeBonis,Ellen Lewis
Production Design by Mark Friedberg
Art Direction by Alex DiGerlando,Kim Jennings
Set Decoration by Alyssa Winter
Costume Design by Frank L. Fleming
Makeup Department Fríða Aradóttir,Karen Asano-Myers,Bill Corso,Angel De Angelis,Bobby H. Grayson,Mindy Hall,Paula Kelly,Sheri Kornhaber,Tarsha Marshall,Mary Anne Spano
Production Management Udi Nedivi,Louise Seymour
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director Marcos González Palma,Louis Guerra,Tudor Jones,Jessica Pollini,Maurice Sessoms,Michael E. Steele,Robert Tierney
Art Department Derrick Alford,JoAnn Atwood,Junior Cyrus Baron,Nikki Black,Joan Brockschmidt,Gabu Camilo,Lucien Charles,Patricia Colburn,Steven T. Duke,Frank-Joseph Frelier,Joseph Galione,Kley Gilbuena,Jonathan Graham,Orey Graham,Roman Greller,Sandy Hamilton,Linda Harvey,Arlo Hoffman,Hank Liebeskind,Gray Madder,John F. McHugh,Timothy Metzger,Nick Miller,Suzanne Mjartan,Kris Moran,Valerie Nolan,Tobin Ost,Jessica Panuccio,Jessie Pellegrino,Mark Pollard,Danny Princz,Robert Pyzocha,Nithya Shrinivasan,Ani Simon-Kennedy,Mike Thompson,Nell Tivnan,Daniel Wallenstein,Joel Weaver,Anastasia White,Erik Lundell,Wolf-Dieter Stoeffelmeier
Sound Department Alexej Ashkenazy,Laurent Boudaud,Simon Chase,Ryan Collison,Marko A. Costanzo,Maximilian De Armon,Lee Dichter,Robert Fernandez,Dann Fink,Richard Fordham,Frank Graziadei,Harry Higgins,Nick Kray,Oleg Kulchytskyi,George A. Lara,Allen Lau,Tony Martinez,Daniel McIntosh,Colin McLellan,Brady Nelson,Tom Nelson,Jay Peck,Kevin Penney,Jacob Ribicoff,Warren Shaw,Alastair Sirkett,Greg Steele,Joseph Stracey,Bill Sweeney,Carol Thomas,Ceri Thomas,Philip Young,Greg Zimmerman,Jerome R. Vitucci
Visual Effects by Dave Isaac Santos Abuel,Andrea Atwater,Zachary Bloom,Turea Blyth,Ella Boliver,Reine Bourgault,Sabrina Brech,Carrie Cassada,Trent Claus,Ben Cronin,Tabitha Dean,Kevin Del Colle,Chivas DeVinck,Eran Dinur,Sarah Dowland,Don Evans,Marie Fernandes,Rob Garner,Adam Glasman,Neil Harrison,Karsten Hecker,Richard Hirst,Bradford Lewis,Peter Marin,Callum Mckeveny,Mark Moore,Ivan Moran,Alex Postelnicu,Marc Rice,Aurora Shannon,Raven Sia,Corrina Wilson,Molle DeBartolo
Stunts Scott Berst,Peter Bucossi,Mike Burke,John Cenatiempo,Tim Connolly,Roy Farfel,Gene Harrison,Cort Hessler,Jalil Jay Lynch,Mick O Rourke,Janet Paparazzo,Jodi Michelle Pynn,Joseph Richards,Michael Russo,Blaise Corrigan,Roy Farfel,Gene Harrison,Michael Mancuso,Christopher Place,Thomas Place
Camera and Electrical Department Rob Agredo,Ethan Borsuk,Doug Brantner,Michael W. Brennan,Kevin L. Bright,Brian Carmichael,Randolph Carty,Carl Casano,James Casey,Justin Cheatham,Doug Cordonier,Jason Cortazzo,Mark Cyr,Frank G. DeMarco,Patrick Dierson,Pedro Diez,James Dombey,Eric Dvorsky,Scott Eberle,Alexander Etseyatse,Robert K. Feldmann,Stanley Fernandez Jr.,Gavin Fernandez,Vanessa Frost,Jim Geduldick,Lisa Gleason,Ted Goodwin,Michael N. Green,Bart Grieb,Adam Hall,Chris Hensel,Bob Izzo,Kevin Karpinski,David Landau,Hamilton Longyear,Bruce MacCallum,William MacGhee,Dean Martinez,Christian May,Paul C. McKenna,Steve McNally,Ryan Minelli,Christopher Moeller,Ed Nessen,Paul Niccolls,Sebastien Nicolet,Marc-Eric Nielsen,Phil Pastuhov,Macall B. Polay,Antonio Ponti,Noah Prince,Guillaume Renberg,Colin Rich,Jon W. Rosenbloom,Lewis Rothenberg,David Satin,Robert Sciretta,Steven Search,Pierson Silver,Kevin Smyth,Donny Stegall,Allen Stillman,Katrina Whalen,Zach Wolf,Allen Zellman,Chris Zizzo,Thomas Calandrillo,Alexander J. Nobbs
Casting Department Jolanda Anthony,Melissa Braun,Matthew Maisto,Meghan Rafferty,Bruce Winant,Kathryn Zamora-Benson
Costume and Wardrobe Department Lisa R. Frucht,Amy Habacker,Leonard Logsdail,Carol McLennan,Ewa Noskowicz,Suzanne Pettit,Bernie Pollack,Jennifer Schilling,Kim Shek,Lawrence Tarzy,Jessica Trejos,Domenico Vacca,Benjamin Wilson,Timothy A. Wonsik,Susan J. Wright,Mary Wuliger,Tyra Youland
Editorial Department Julian Andraus,Romy Barber,Ryan Bennett,Tricia Chiarenza,Jeff Cornell,Rick Derby,Eve Doherty,Adam Glasman,Emily Greenwood,Alastair Grimshaw,Jonathan Hoffman,Annie Johnson,William Kruzykowski,Patrick Malone,Sean Phillip Rowe,Jennifer Scudder Trent,Issac Solemon,Stefan Sonnenfeld,Scot Starbuck,Katrina Whalen,Matt Breitenbach
Location Management Sarah Crofts,Frank Dauro,Paul Eskenazi,Gilana Lobel,Daniel McCarthy,Jason A. McCauley,Ali Moussavi,Jason Planitzer,Demian Resnick,Hilary Smith,Jonathan Urband
Music Department Mark Berrow,Paul Clarvis,Alec Dankworth,Karen Elliott,Dave Hartley,Lisa Jaime,Stu Kennedy,Abbie Lister,Tom Pigott Smith,Rob Playford,Michael Price,Frank Ricotti,Graham Sutton,Jonathan Williams,Warren Zielinski,Rachel Bolt,Denise Carver,Geoff Foster,Andrew Townend
Script and Continuity Department Mary Bailey
Transportation Department David Conelli,Patrick Hogan
Additional Crew Sherman Alpert,Marie-Pierre Beausejour,Brian Bergdoll,Lauren Binder,Alyson Bruno,Lisa Burrascano,Jennifer Bydwell,Brian Cantaldi,Sal Carino,Laura Caulfield,Manie D. Chery,Emma Cooper,Jeff Cornell,Scotch James Diaz Crisostomo,Peter Dickinson,Alex Finch,Joshua A. Friedman,Adam Gaines,Dan Gloeckner,Matthew Goodwin,Duck Grossberg,Julia Hall,Stephanie Heaton,Luz Hernandez,Todd M. Hofacker,Kevin Jarzynski,Jeffro,John Michael Kehoe,Leigh Kittay,Adam Kulick,Jeremy David Lee,Adam Levy,Rebecca Lindsey,Anthony Lote,Loyzo,Stephen Lucky Luckingham,Brendan C. Lynch,Will Mahr,Michael Mancuso,Jesus E. Martinez,Laurent Matina,Kate McCaslin,Ademola McMullen,Montez A. Monroe,Bonnie Munoz,Howard Neustadt,Ngoc Nguyen,Joanna Ogando,Derek Peterson,Nicole Phillips,Jakub Porembski,Patricia Porter,John Puccinelli,Michelle Rejwan,Colin Rich,Bill Richards,Spencer W. Richards,Deborah Ricketts,Shannon E. Riggs,Olimpia T. Rinaldi,Ramón Rodríguez,Matthew Roper,Gary Stone,Miriam Tielmann,Michael Tursi,N.D. Warren,Katharine Werner,Jamie Vega Wheeler,Anastasia White,Ralph A. Wilburn Jr.,Joshua Williams,James Wojtal,Sam Wootton,Khalid Yates,Will Zullo,Kyle Campbell,Tricia Miles,Bill Richards,Ariel Rodriguez,Peter Pamela Rose,Christian Sebes
Thanks Sean Carroll
Genres Comedy, Drama, Romance
Companies Bad Robot, Goldcrest Pictures
Countries USA
Languages English, Ukrainian
ContentRating PG-13
ImDbRating 6.5
ImDbRatingVotes 79016
MetacriticRating 57
Keywords workaholic,professional woman,tv morning show,tv journalist,fictional tv network