WELCOME BACK, MR. MCDONALD A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): ***
A live radio drama is the setting for writer/director Koki Mitani's enchanting, screwball comedy, WELCOME BACK, MR. MCDONALD. Even if it doesn't generate many laughs, it's good-spirited tone will put a smile in your heart, and its rousing ending will likely have you applauding.
The tension mounts on the set as the first production of a new radio drama series is getting under way. They'll be live shortly with an original drama by housewife Miyako Suzuki (Kyoka Suzuki). She proudly won a writing contest with her first script, a would-be autobiographical drama titled "Woman of Destiny." (That she learns that she was the sole entrant diminishes her pride only a little.)
Played as an heroic milquetoast by Kyoka Suzuki, the writer becomes the dramatic lead in what is mainly a comedy. The shy writer would be scared of her shadow, if she were only brave enough to look at it. Although she doesn't like it, she allows herself to be pushed around by a bunch of egocentric actors, who demand more changes in the script than you can count.
The temperamental star of the radio drama, Nokko Senbon (Keiko Toda), demands the first of a series of alterations to the narrative. She wants a foreign name, Mary Jane, for her character. And she doesn't want to work in a mundane pachinko parlor, instead she demands to be a high powered New York lawyer. (Typical of the story's comedy is the change they make as the drama is on live. Figuring that their machinegun scene would have to be in Chicago, they change everything to Chicago seconds before the actors speak their lines.)
Once Senbon gets her requests, everything falls apart in real-time. The writer begrudgingly makes the adjustments as fast as she can. The movie imparts a real feel of the excitement of both radio drama and of a live production, both dying art forms.
The film, while at first seems easy to write off as trivially uninteresting, soon grows on you as the eminently likable characters work their charms. With such a wonderful, hard-working ensemble cast, the movie could have succeeded with a bad script, which this one isn't. Oh, it isn't much of one, but it constantly surprises you in simple but magical ways. And the picture is beautifully filmed in warm inviting colors by Kenji Takama and Junichi Tozawa.
In a movie with a large number of delightful little moments and characters, none is better than an old guard (Shirô Namiki). Once a sound effects man, he now passes his time as the building's guard by playing on his Gameboy. It is to him the director turns in a moment, actually several moments, of panic. The guard knows all of the tricks. Machine guns are easy, you just need a box of pistachio nuts -- he points out that Americans prefer using corn, but pistachios are better. "Try not to put so much faith in your machines," he admonishes the director. The movie thus seems to be telling studios, by implication, not to put so much faith in expensive special effects. Concentrate instead on the basics, starting with the acting.
WELCOME BACK, MR. MCDONALD runs 1:40. The film is in Japanese with easy to follow English subtitles. It is not rated but would be a G, as it is appropriate for all ages.
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