Career Girl

Rachel McAdams’ latest, the J.J. Abrams-executive-produced comedy Morning Glory, gets it.

The movie (the actress’ first starring-solo vehicle, IMHO, no matter the fact that she gets top-shelf support from Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton) gets the struggle of a twentysomething up-and-comer in the competitive world of communications.

I think.

This is a world, after all, that everyone likes to look into and dismiss at the same time, especially when the, say, region on which someone like McAdams’ character – the hard-working, driven, and, yes, breezy morning-show producer Becky Fuller – has claimed a stake is that of of entertainment.

Folks sometimes don’t get that, these days...with the so-called 24-hour news cycle...it’s eat or be eaten out there.

The job can turn into so much more than that – it can turn into a lifestyle. People like Becky, they sleep with their BlackBerrys on by their pillow, and are always on the lookout for scoop, for an idea they hope viewers/reader/listeners will find compelling. It’s, if I may, quite the thankless task when you think about it.

Nevertheless, this is the world Becky always has dreamt of conquering, and why wouldn’t she: it can be a tremendously fun, exciting, challenging environment in which to be and thrive. For some, like her, it’s a lifelong goal to be a part of that world in a well-regarded way. Becky’s been dreaming of working for the Today show, for instance, since she was 8 years old.

With Rockefeller Center in her sights, she’s rising through the ranks steadily for years working across the river for a New Jersey station. She’s so close to the first of many big breaks she can almost taste it, and so can those around her, all whom support her. One day, she’s called into her boss’ office for what everybody thinks it’s a promotion chat.

It isn’t.

Back on square one, Becky is unflappable. Sure, she panics for a sec, but what’s the good in that, Morning Glory tells us, when you have the goods? She bucks up and keeps going, more determined than ever to make it.

She ends up getting hired at the unfortunately named IBS network to run its fourth-place morning show Daybreak.

No one there expects her to make any sort of mark, much less succeed, and that includes Colleen Peck (Keaton), the show’s longtime anchor. That’s exactly what Becky’ll do, though, if it’s the last thing she ever does. She quickly makes some radical changes to revitalize the show, none more so than bringing on legendary news anchor Mike Pomeroy (Ford) as the new co-host.

Unfortunately for her, Pomeroy thinks the job is beneath him – he’s really doing it for the money and that’s it – refuses to banter with Colleen, whom he dismisses as a nothing more than a former beauty queen, or cover morning-show staples like celebrity stories, cooking segments, human-interest stories (anything he deems to be “fluff,” in other words).

Nobody said it’d be easy, and to see Becky, as played with winning pluck by McAdams, rise to the occasion is one of Morning Glory’s considerable joys.

Another is the sight of Patrick Wilson as a fellow producer (for another show) who shows our heroine that, perhaps, she can have a love life, too, if she can strike the right balance between work and play. This relationship business gives the movie a bit of a generic sheen at times, but it’s a necessary evil to attract a wider audience, I get it....

Kudos to director Roger Michell (Notting Hill) and screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada) for not dwelling on the subplot and letting this be the Becky Fuller show.

My Rating ***

Photo: Paramount Pictures.