2/5
(PG 15) Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton
Anyone who’s been following Rachel McAdams from deft comic turns (Mean Girls) to three-hanky dramas (The Time Traveller’s Wife) to the occasional nail-biter (Red Eye) can attest to her talent and range. It was only a matter of time before someone decided she could be a next-gen Julia Roberts. But this romantic comedy insists she’s really Sandra Bullock 2.0 – a bad move.

As a go-getter revamping a failing TV show, McAdams gives us one great scene: having a million requests thrown at her during an editorial meeting, she methodically fires back answers, capping it off by sacking the office perv. After that, it’s just 90 minutes of desperation and panic.

Even if you subtract ill-advised attempts at star branding, Morning Glory requires you to tie your noggin in knots over other riddles. Such as: how does one cast Harrison Ford as a Mike Wallace-ish hard-nut and Diane Keaton as a Katie Couric clone, yet fail to generate any comic chemistry? Or suggest that veteran muckrakers should lighten up while also positing that the infotainment news world requires more journalistic rigour, and not see that as contradictory? This movie thinks it can soft-sell its love story and its media meta-jabs without people feeling they’ve been bamboozled. To which we can only say good night, and good luck.