Morning Glory Trailer: Wake Up Ron Burgundy
There was a time when Harrison Ford could have taken his part in Morning Glory -- as a legendary-but-washed-out news anchor relegated to working on a morning show -- and turned it into something really special. Unfortunately that time was almost 30 years ago, before he lost every ounce of his once-considerable charm. Needless to say, the new trailer for Morning Glory could work just a tiny bit better.
On paper, all the elements are there: Morning Glory, from producer J.J. Abrams's Bad Robot production company, is like a cross between Broadcast News and The Devil Wears Prada (not all that surprising since it was written by Prada screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna). Rachel McAdams -- trying hard to make up for Ford's anti-charm -- plays a wet-behind-the-ears morning-show producer who attempts to goose her program's low ratings by bringing in Ford's anchorman to do battle with Diane Keaton's bubbly Kathie Lee Gifford-clone. Cue catty comments just before they go live on air!
The rest of the trailer plays the beats you'd expect: McAdams concentrates on work to the detriment of her relationship with Patrick Wilson (looking more like Josh Lucas with each passing day); Ford softens and becomes the wise old sage; and Keaton... well, it's not very clear what point Keaton has, beyond being the butt of many jokes. It's only the trailer, but this role already seems beneath her.
As for Morning Glory itself, what is this exactly? A rom-com? A workplace comedy? An Erin Brockovich-like lady drama? Before the next trailer, maybe Paramount should figure that out. Until then...
VERDICT: Pass.
Subscribe to the new Movieline on YouTube
Comments
So I take it James L. Brooks ditched this version what, 22 years ago and since Jack has been there and done that, they get Harrison cause you know, he's old and cranky and hey, isn't Diane available?
You know, trailers didn't used to be a condensed version of the entire movie until someone in the promotions side of the business did a so-called study and determined that revealing the entire plot in a trailer actually made people more likely to go see the movie. I don't know who these jackass movie-goers were who indicated that they wanted to see everything in trailers, but I hate them.