Gung Ho (1986)

Wonderful character development!

Such a frustrating disappointment

Great Film overall

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Keaton is one of my favorite actors. I grew up with this movie. Good American movie but it's just an average movie.

This was my second favorite Michael Keaton flick from the Eighties, "Beetlejuice" was the first. I always liked Keaton for his wisecrack manner and facial language, for me one of the best. Watching today the picture has lost some of it's vibe from three decades ago. Times change and tastes change, so I guess that accounts for most of my sentiment. The culture clash between American and Japanese workers is at the heart of the story here, and how mid-level managers Hunt Stevenson (Keaton) and Oishi Kazihiro (Gedde Watanabe) direct their approach to work. Americans are industrious and competent, but by the Eighties, the demands of family life often took priority. Whereas for the Japanese, work is the defining characteristic of one's life and other considerations are not allowed to intrude. The picture seems to take a fairly well balanced approach in bringing each side over to the other's point of view. I had forgotten most of the supporting players here. Mimi Rogers, George Wendt and John Turturro had modest roles supporting Keaton, and after a while I came to realize that a different name was used for Watanabe's character every so often, like Kazoito and Takahira. In his own inimitable style, Keaton called him Kazmania and my own personal favorite, Kazmonaut. Well like the man said, it's not brain surgery. The ending of the picture seems to come together out of left field to reward the citizens of Hadleyville for pulling out a win in the fourth quarter like Hunt promised. It's a little convoluted and feels forced, but if you're a Michael Keaton fan, it ought to work well enough for you.

OK, we all like Michael Keaton and it's fun to sit back and watch a light silly 80s movie. The only thing is after Night Shift and Mr. Mom, they must have ran out of ideas because this one fell far short. It had some funny moments and some decent ideas, but it didn't really go anywhere. There was a strange awkwardness throughout the whole film as if there wasn't a clear vision of what was supposed to happen. Many scenes were almost funny or even almost dramatic, but very rarely hit the mark. Also, by the late 80s pop music hit an absolute low and here we get to sample some of the most awful tunes including one near the end in the factory that actually spoiled a scene that could have accomplished something. I must also point out the strange acting or was it bad casting or directing? Watanabe was great in Sixteen Candles, but was he a little young to play a top executive or was that just me? George Wendt was very odd, doing things that didn't quite make sense or feel right. I really wanted to like it and I guess it was pleasant enough, but I realize now why it's only rated a 5.7. It reminded me of The Dream Team- you wished it was good, but it just wasn't.

I saw this movie when it was new. Later I rented it in Japan after having been here three years, afraid that I would cringe when I viewed it in the harsh light of my expanded international experience. The movie pleasantly surprised me with how accurately it portrays the culture clash between Japan and Pennsylvania (where I'm from). Not all the stuff is factually spot on, but the tone is perfect.I'm still in Japan many years later, and I continue to enjoy this film for its even-handed treatment of the two sides in the story. Interestingly, although the Japanese-American actors spoke Japanese in the original, the dialog is redubbed in the Japan version to cover up obvious second-language delivery problems.I noticed one reviewer uses this in a Japanese class. I think you can learn more about what to expect from an encounter with Japan by watching this film than by reading any of the "serious" books on the matter (most of which were written in the 80s and financed by propagandizing Japanese companies).Don't be fooled by drag on the average rating caused by one-star reviewers who, among other things, found it implausible that the Japanese would want to build cars in the US. (Of course, the Japanese operate many factories there to be close to the customers and to avoid trade friction.) This is a very warm and funny movie that I would rate higher were it not for a few 80s clichés, like the dancing around to cheesy electronic disco music. Michael Keaton has never been funnier.