Sally 'Tally' Atwater (Michelle Pfeiffer) is ambitious and green starting out as a local TV reporter in Miami hired by news director Warren Justice (Robert Redford) from her amateur tape. They fall in love as he grooms her rise from weather girl to star reporter in the newsroom. Agent Bucky Terranova (Joe Mantegna) recruits her to a bigger Philadelphia station. She struggles from jabs by jealous anchor Marcia McGrath (Stockard Channing) and unkind public judgment. Warren has been struggling himself. Sensing her despair, he goes to Philadelphia to help her recover.

This is loosely based on the late NBC News anchor Jessica Savitch but it has more in common with the play Pygmalion. It's a bit too broad at first with Pfeiffer stumbling awkwardly to portray inexperience. It's so broad that it actually becomes off-putting. There is also the age difference but Pfeiffer and Redford are great enough to overcome it. The plot has much of the formula of a good romance but it just feels false. The actors' cinematic presence helps a lot. In the end, I don't feel it.