MORNING GLORY

RYAN: The new Rachel McAdams movie, Morning Glory, co-stars Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton, not to mention one of my personal favorites, Patrick Wilson.

CAROLINE: We’ve been looking forward to this movie for months due to our enormous love for Rachel M. I enjoy the rest of the cast too; but I’ll see anything Rachel does.

RYAN: This was written by the same woman as The Devil Wears Prada, which for me is the kind of movie you can watch over and over again on cable.

CAROLINE: Morning Glory is similarly themed, in that it’s about a young woman’s career trajectory and getting a job where you’re in over your head. I liked that it’s about TV production, a field we’ve both worked in, but I found it a little unrealistic that Rachel McAdams plays a 28-year-old who’s executive producing a national morning show.

RYAN: The entire film is totally implausible, honestly, not just the set up and premise. I had to suspend my disbelief big time; but once I did I found I could just go with it, and I thought the movie was a lot of fun.

CAROLINE: It’s definitely cute, but I wasn’t as into it as I thought I’d be. I was expecting more. The premise is so great, and I was hoping for huge laughs. Maybe my expectations were too high; but with this cast and trailer, how could they not be?!

RYAN: But I thought there was such great banter and it was so well written.

CAROLINE: The cast is great, and I laughed a few times, and I love that it’s set in NYC… but I don’t think it was that well written, at least in the last 30 minutes or so. It got sooooo hokey at the end.

RYAN: It’s more of a career underdog story than a romantic comedy, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Clearly I liked it more than you; I’ve already seen it twice.

CAROLINE: I did like the love story between Rachel McAdams and Patrick Wilson. All of their scenes were great, and I thought they kept their relationship very realistic. But, without giving too much away, the relationship between her and Harrison Ford gets totally ridiculous and I didn’t buy it at all.

RYAN: I found Harrison Ford’s delivery a little dry, but Diane Keaton has a lot of funny lines. And I loved the supporting cast of the people in the office, like the guy from TV’s Mad About You. They all reminded me of people I’ve worked with before.

CAROLINE: The office scenes were fun. Like I said, it’s a cute movie, but not a great one. I was expecting it to deliver on a higher level.

RYAN: See, I thought it was great. I don’t know why I liked it so much more than you, but I could totally see myself lounging on the couch watching this again when it comes out on cable. It’s funny and poignant; though I agree that it got a little over-the-top at the end. And I really liked the soundtrack and Rachel’s wardrobe and Louboutins.

CAROLINE: Another unrealistic thing. She’d never be able to afford those shoes.

— BOTTOM LINE —

RYAN: I was totally into this movie, and would happily see it again. I have the same feeling as with The Devil Wears Prada; I could totally watch it over and over.

CAROLINE: I liked this movie, but I didn’t love it. I’m a bit underwhelmed, and I’m surprised at the cheesy turn it took toward the end. The ending didn’t necessarily ruin the movie for me, but I thought it was pretty unbelievable and definitely knocked the movie down a few pegs. But I did love the cast and some of the scenarios, and I enjoyed myself. I’m just not going to rave about it. It could be a rental.

RYAN: Here’s my rebuttal – I just think romantic comedies these days are so formulaic and predictable that it’s nice to see a different slant on the genre. I’d rather see a few more movies like this than just flat-out rom coms. I think this one is really fun and worth seeing on the big screen.

— RATING —