“Morning Glory” is about as charming as they come.

Like most good comedies, the humor arises out of the characters and their action. However, that is not enough to explain why this movie succeeds; there is something to the parts that make the whole work.

When hardworking TV producer Becky Fuller (Rachel McAdams) is fired from a local news program, her career begins to look as bleak as her hapless love life. Stumbling into a job at “Daybreak” (the last-place national morning news show), Becky decides to revitalize the show by bringing on legendary TV anchor Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford).

Unfortunately, Pomeroy refuses to cover morning show staples like celebrity gossip, weather, fashion and crafts, let alone work with his new co-host, Colleen Peck (Diane Keaton), a former beauty queen and longtime morning show personality, who is more than happy covering morning “news.”

As Mike and Colleen clash, first behind the scenes and then on the air, Becky’s blossoming love affair with fellow producer Adam Bennett (Patrick Wilson) begins to unravel. And soon Becky is struggling to save her relationship, her reputation, her job and, ultimately, the show itself.

This struggle to keep everything together is the driving force behind the comedy. It makes the humor come alive because it shows us that the characters are grounded in something real. I do not think that this movie would work if, at any point, these characters seemed to be larger than life. If good comedy is to arise from characters, the audience needs to buy in completely.

Rachel McAdams gives a good performance here. She brings it every scene, which is very important for giving the film a consistent emotional barometer. It is also important because she has to go toe-to-toe with Diane Keaton and Harrison Ford.

Harrison Ford is the one anomaly in this movie, though not necessarily in a bad way. I would not say Harrison Ford has an acting range, but there is an expectation that most of us have when we watch him. But this is a different kind of Harrison Ford in “Morning Glory,” one that I am not so sure if I have seen before. (His impersonation of Christian Bale/Batman from “The Dark Knight,” however unintentional it may be, is spot-on.)

McAdams and Ford are at their best in the film’s second half, and not surprisingly, this is where the film really takes off.

It is not just the back-and-forth between McAdams and Ford that catapults the film. The other actors, including Matt Malloy as the resident weatherman, all come alive. This is because the script tightens after the first act.

Early on, the movie was very uneven. It was not immediately clear just what type of movie I’d be seeing. The tone was very somber early on, but maybe this was an attempt to up the stakes, so that the later payoff would leave the audience more than satisfied. I will have to say that if this was the case, then it worked perfectly.

This movie is not perfect. I was really excited to see this movie, and the first act was confounding in its unevenness. But the remainder of the movie is wonderful. (In particular, one roller coaster scene sent the audience into some of the loudest laughter I’ve ever heard at the movies.)

Look past Paramount’s attempt to bill it as a romantic comedy, and you will see the film as it really is: a film that is both good comedy and good drama. Thankfully, the characters give rise to both; this is what makes “Morning Glory” one of the better films of the year.

Running Time: 102 minutes

MPAA Rating: PG-13

CW Critic’s Rating: 3 stars (***) out of 4

Bottom Line:  Although not perfect, the story flows from its characters; as a result, we get one of the most feel-good films of the year.