This is the sort of film you enter into indifferently and come out the other end just bored. Television producer Becky Fuller (Rachel McAdams) loses her job on her morning news show due to cut backs. She then manages to wrangle her way to an executive producer job on less successful show called Daybreak. In an attempt to boost the shows profile she hires veteran news reporter Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford) who reluctantly takes the job due to a contractual obligation to the network, though makes no secret of the fact he thinks he is above any information the show provides that isn’t hard news, which causes a rift with his co-host Colleen (Diane Keaton). Becky is burdened with the task of somehow turning show’s ratings around in order to impress studio head Jerry Barnes (Jeff Goldblum) enough for him not to pull it off the air all together.
What could have been a humorous 30 Rock-esque story of chaos behind the scenes of a television show, unfortunately goes down the route of one woman’s struggle to overcome the odds when everything around her seems to be falling apart. In other words the same tired drivel we’ve all seen before, which wouldn’t have necessarily been bad if the gag rate was more frequent. Instead we have countless scenes McAdams’ Becky running around, making a prat of herself, trying to get her job done while of course learning a thing or two about life and love and how ones job isn’t everything. It’s like the film equivalent of watching a fly bounce around from wall to wall, just waiting for it to land on a piece of shit.
This sort of stylised tale of female empowerment I’m sure will resonate with some women in the audience, as McAdams runs in slow motion through the streets of New York to some female led R&B song about not letting the world get her down. Hopefully though most will see it for the tortured laugh famine it is. One thing I will praise though is Harrison Ford’s performance, which shows that there is a lot of potential to be tapped into if he just acted his age more often.
2/5
No comments:
Post a Comment