Hello fellow Movie Buffs!
About a week ago my wife and I just wanted see a funny movie. We took a chance on a film at the Portland International Film Festival, a recent Japanese movie titled Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald. The whole movie takes place in a Tokyo radio station where a live radio drama is being done. With the housewife author in the studio, the prima donna lead actress demands a major script change and soon the other actors are insisting on their own script changes. The seat of the pants rewrites, live acting, special effects and chaos, all on the edge of going completely out of control, is hilarious. As soon as things slow down a bit, something else is uproarious. My wife and I hadn't laughed so long at a movie in a long time. The local movie reviewer was less than totally enthusiastic about this movie because of the "determined lightness of the material." And though he gave the movie a B-, he admitted that "charm and fun are in high supply." But sometimes you want to go to movie just to laugh a lot and have a good time. You don't want high art or messages all the time; you want to see well done hilarity. And this movie really was a funny, funny surprise, that you could laugh out loud at. My wife and I are hoping that this will be like Shall We Dance from Japan a couple years ago. After we saw that at the International Film Festival, it gained wider distribution a few months later and was a hit in the US. I'd urge everyone who wants a funny comedy to see this if it comes around to your area in a film festival sometime in the future. And it's a family movie! Anyone over 10 would love this. There is no sex or bad language! I'd rate this a solid B+. Keep your eyes open for it!
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Rick Scoggin
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