Morning Glory (and The Mechanic)

Morning Glory is a film set in the world of Breakfast Television and is, in many ways, like its subject matter. Its light and breezy, nothing too heavy, flirts with the odd serious idea, but never develops them and is occasionally funny. Actually, to be fair, its more than occasionally funny.

Rachel McAdams plays a TV producer, impssibly chirpy, borderline ADHD, who is given the job of turning round a flagging Breakfast TV show. Her first step is to fire one of the hosts and coerce serious newsman Harrison Ford to become co-host (alongside Diane Keaton). Meanwhile Patrick Wilson is thrown into the mix to give the girls something nice to look at (because, lets face it, Harrison is past his best) and add a half-baked romantic subplot. The film does briefly flirt with ideas of news/information vs entertainment, before decidind to sit firmly on the fence and go nowhere with them.

So its lightweight - one might even say "fluffy" - but crucially (and unlike many other recent comedies) its both fun and funny! That and the fact that Ford hasn't looked this bothered in a movie for years. In the meantime he appears to have taken a class at the Clint Eastwood school of talking in a growly whisper, but he seems to relish the chance to play the curmudgeonly old anchor and there is a real delight in hearing him bark out lines like "I mopped Mother Theresa's brow during a cholera outbreak".

Overall - 6.5/10 Its lightweight fluff, but a whole lot funnier than many so-called comedies.

Also seen this week, but neither good nor bad nor interesting enough to merit its own post:

The Mechanic Jason Statham as a professional hitman, tricked into killing his mentor (Donald Sutherland) and out for revenge alongside the slightly psychotic son (Ben Foster) of said mentor. The opening sequence is well done and rather fun. Thereafter the movie is decent enough, Statham handles the action well and even at times does something approaching acting. The bad guy is a bit of a colourless non-event and the ending is one predictable twist too far. The set pieces work on the whole. All in all, its a solid action flick which probably takes itself a tad too seriously and is not as much fun as the trailer hinted at. 5.5/10