West Springfield High School Newspaper

The Oracle

West Springfield High School Newspaper

The Oracle

West Springfield High School Newspaper

The Oracle

McAdams blossoms in otherwise cliché chick flick

“Easy A” was a goofy, mediocre movie made great through the charms of one tremendously talented female lead.

Emma Stone played a rare character: quirkier, sassier and more immediately captivating than any of the peripheral roles. After seeing it, I thought I had witnessed something relatively rare. Most actresses aren’t capable of taking an average movie and carrying the full brunt of its weight.

But lo, lightning has struck twice.

We’ve seen “Morning Glory” a million times before. Becky (Rachel McAdams), a frazzled, workaholic 20-something with no social life gets the job opportunity of a lifetime. Soon she realizes the workplace is in a state of utter decay and is given a convoluted time limit to clean things up.

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All this is done whilst earning her greenhorn stripes in the dating kingdom and cozying up to a soulless, vapid meat slab (Adam, played in this case by the insipid Patrick Wilson), who gradually teaches her to pause and enjoy life.

 The story is excruciatingly hackneyed. It’s predictable and the love interest is lazily written.

But worse still is the editing. It’s wretched. The 102-minute runtime desperately needs another 10 or 15 minutes. Becky gets only a one-minute scene to set up her character and then we’re off, hitting the second act in the first 15 minutes.

The story climaxes five minutes before the end of the film, with a montage providing most of the falling action. Harrison Ford’s character arc is artificial, with little to no explanation for his eventual change of heart.

Adam and Becky’s relationship is neither realistic nor believable: They have a few brief conversations, one dud of a date and then proceed to sleep together for the rest of the movie. The film doesn’t even attempt to explain why they’re together. They have no fights, no chemistry, no tension. The romantic subplot is, without a doubt, the low point of the film.

 Thus far, I’ve been tearing into Morning Glory. But I loved it. Not that it’s a great film, but, as you probably inferred from the opening paragraph, Rachel McAdams is an absolute marvel. In this movie, she has done for the clichéd workaholic woman what Emma Stone did for the clichéd high school misfit. Surpassed Stone’s work, even.

Becky is the Joker, Becky is Hannibal Lecter, Becky is Drexl Spivey. McAdams dives into the role like every scene is the climax, owning the character. The way she moves, the way she smiles, the way her eyes constantly search the environment like she’s Jason Bourne or something. She’s klutzy and graceless, in an uncomfortable, tense way. Her recurring phone-juggling gag would be cumbersome in any other hands, but McAdams makes it almost pitiful. She sucks up the screen, destroying the artistically ailing Diane Keaton. She’s magnetic.

To be fair, it is a very funny movie. A certain sequence/montage midway through had me doubling over in stitches. The sight gags are glorious, and the dialogue occasionally turns the “trite” knob down to six and the “Wit” knob up to seven.

But Rachel McAdams is the real reason anyone should see this movie. And, just for her, I’d whole-heartedly recommend “Morning Glory” to anyone who can accept that even a very commonplace character can turn into a classic in capable hands.

Like the hands from “Mean Girls” and “The Notebook.”

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