Ron Howard's Gung Ho sounded like a promising film. It is a movie about a culture and economical clash; about a Japanese firm taking over a small-town Pennsylvania auto factory. The man who directed Splash and Cocoon reteaming with Michael Keaton? Yeah, that really sounds promising. The only thing this movie needed...was a competent script. The script, which was written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, was horrendous. The portrayal of the Japanese was stereotypical and one-dimensional. In reality, the Japanese were insulted. Yes, they are extremely hard workers, but nothing to the extent depicted here. In fact, the Japanese use this film to show their workers how not to behave. Is that not ironic or what?
When Howard signed up to direct the film, maybe there should have been a clause where he needed to rewrite the screenplay. It really is not a good one. In addition to the portrayal of Japanese management, the American assembly line workers are one-note. George Wendt, who played an assembly line worker and got demoted to janitor, seems to do nothing but wave his mop in the air. The main protagonist, played by Michael Keaton, is given a girlfriend that holds no relevance to the story. So, the film is filled with pointless characters and plot movements. Even though the screenplay is not great, the film is not entirely awful. The performances are decent, and Howard managed to save the film from the deepest parts of the gutter. Too bad he could not save it from obscurity.
The movie takes place a number of months after a small Pennsylvania town's auto factory was shut down. The town is going through some tough economic times. Hunt Stevenson (Michael Keaton) travels to Tokyo to see if a Japanese firm would be interested in taking over the assembly line. He thought his proposal failed because of their slack-jawed response. To his surprise, they accepted it and now the factory is back in business. The only problem here is that there is a culture clash between the Americans and Japanese and no one is happy. Hunt works with the Japanese plant manager Oishi Kazihiro (Gedde Watanabe) who is fed up with his bosses as well. Hunt is at a crossroad here. He is either loyal to the Americans or to the Japanese.
Thankfully, the performances are more than up to the task to save the movie from utter drivel. Michael Keaton previously worked with Ron Howard is the director's debut film, The Night Shift. He once again brings forth a manic energy. People seem to forget that Keaton was a fine comedian in the 1980's and this is one of those performances. He showed some excellent chemistry with Gedde Watanabe. If the name sounds familiar, you may recognize him from his thankless role in the teen comedy Sixteen Candles. Thankfully, his role here is better developed and not as insulting. Despite playing poorly-developed characters, the supporting cast did the best they can. George Wendt, John Turturro, and Mimi Rogers are faces to watch.
Overall, I did not connect well with Gung Ho. It is not a horrible film, but I am sure Ron Howard does not want to be remembered for this film. Luckily, most people do not know about it. I never even heard of it until I combed through Howard's filmography. The main issue is the dated, insulting, and one-dimensional screenplay. It takes a good idea and ruins it. Sadly, it is not the funny film I expected. Despite that, the film receives a passing grade because the performances save the film. Ain't Michael Keaton a hero? I still cannot get that they believe the Japanese workers are forced to do exercises like jumping jacks before their shifts. That really is crazy.
My Grade: C
When Howard signed up to direct the film, maybe there should have been a clause where he needed to rewrite the screenplay. It really is not a good one. In addition to the portrayal of Japanese management, the American assembly line workers are one-note. George Wendt, who played an assembly line worker and got demoted to janitor, seems to do nothing but wave his mop in the air. The main protagonist, played by Michael Keaton, is given a girlfriend that holds no relevance to the story. So, the film is filled with pointless characters and plot movements. Even though the screenplay is not great, the film is not entirely awful. The performances are decent, and Howard managed to save the film from the deepest parts of the gutter. Too bad he could not save it from obscurity.
The movie takes place a number of months after a small Pennsylvania town's auto factory was shut down. The town is going through some tough economic times. Hunt Stevenson (Michael Keaton) travels to Tokyo to see if a Japanese firm would be interested in taking over the assembly line. He thought his proposal failed because of their slack-jawed response. To his surprise, they accepted it and now the factory is back in business. The only problem here is that there is a culture clash between the Americans and Japanese and no one is happy. Hunt works with the Japanese plant manager Oishi Kazihiro (Gedde Watanabe) who is fed up with his bosses as well. Hunt is at a crossroad here. He is either loyal to the Americans or to the Japanese.
Thankfully, the performances are more than up to the task to save the movie from utter drivel. Michael Keaton previously worked with Ron Howard is the director's debut film, The Night Shift. He once again brings forth a manic energy. People seem to forget that Keaton was a fine comedian in the 1980's and this is one of those performances. He showed some excellent chemistry with Gedde Watanabe. If the name sounds familiar, you may recognize him from his thankless role in the teen comedy Sixteen Candles. Thankfully, his role here is better developed and not as insulting. Despite playing poorly-developed characters, the supporting cast did the best they can. George Wendt, John Turturro, and Mimi Rogers are faces to watch.
Overall, I did not connect well with Gung Ho. It is not a horrible film, but I am sure Ron Howard does not want to be remembered for this film. Luckily, most people do not know about it. I never even heard of it until I combed through Howard's filmography. The main issue is the dated, insulting, and one-dimensional screenplay. It takes a good idea and ruins it. Sadly, it is not the funny film I expected. Despite that, the film receives a passing grade because the performances save the film. Ain't Michael Keaton a hero? I still cannot get that they believe the Japanese workers are forced to do exercises like jumping jacks before their shifts. That really is crazy.
My Grade: C