Gung Ho

This is quite an entertaining comedy starring Michael Keaton as car manufacturer Hunt Stevenson, whose car company was bought out by a Japanese firm. So, he tries to rally his American workers together to work at the plant for lesser pay and being subjected to harsher work conditions and schedules by the Japanese managers.

There is plenty of comedy relief in the film, from culture clashes to slapstick humor. There's also bits of heroism in the film, including Hunt's town's survival being contingent on the car company staying afloat and including Japanese company manager Oishi Kazihiro (Gedde Watanabe) showing honor to his boss, colleagues and family in getting the car making job done.

Overall, an entertaining film with touches of Americana and Japanese cultures.

Grade B+

... and I'll get to how it is a time capsule in a moment.

Directed by Ron Howard, the film is about a Japanese car company that decides to buy up a shuttered American car factory in a town where it was the major source of employment. There is friction because of the numerous cultural/work culture differences between the Japanese management and the American workers. The main work problem is that the Japanese think "team" and the American workers on the line are individualists. Michael Keaton stars as Hunt Stevenson, who is promoted to liason between the American workers and the Japanese management. His problem is that he doesn't want to tell the unvarnished truth to the workers, and this gets him into trouble when he tells a lie he just can't take back that could mean the end of the plant. Gedde Watanabe plays the Japanese manager of the plant who is trying to go against his nature of caring about the home life of the workers and be "tough" so that the factory will be considered a success by the CEO back in Japan. Eventually he and Hunt form a friendship of sorts.

George Wendt of "Cheers" fame plays a worker who gets demoted to janitor. John Turturro is practically unrecognizable as another factory worker in a small part before the Coen brothers discovered him. If Ron Howard is directing then Clint Howard is not far away, usually playing a bit part, and that is true here too. Oh, if you are expecting the Michael Keaton of Birdman and Spotlight, then you are in for a surprise. This is the rather smart mouth character Keaton started out playing in the early 80s. Think of Bill Blazejowski of 1982's "Night Shift" (also directed by Ron Howard) but with a much bigger I.Q.

Why is this a time capsule and will probably be hard for you to find? When the American workers get angry they refer to their Japanese bosses with terms such as "rice a roni". Also, when Michael Keaton goes up to see the boss he refers to his Japanese secretary as "sugar puss". He isn't flirting, but that still would never make the grade in an American film today. George Wendt's character gets drunk and basically bullies and harasses the big boss' wife in a supermarket one day. Everybody just writes the episode off as the guy being angry about his demotion, as though that is acceptable behavior! It's just funny to have seen this in the theater back in 1986 and realize how much times have changed.

I'd recommend it as a great look back and as a comedic take on some of the economic issues confronting Americans in the 1980s. That decade was not as prosperous and carefree as you might have been led to believe.

With no laughs but with important messages, "Gung Ho" manages to be a reflexive entertainment about the cultural and economical clashes of two nations when they join forces to rise from the ashes an automobile factory that can be the only hope of saving a town. Michael Keaton plays an American executive who gets the job of rescuing such factory with a new leadership coming from Japan with a desperate executive (Gedde Watanabe) trying to save his career from potential failure. The latter's task is to command the American plant and their workers, accustomed to work in a particular way, trying impose the Oriental methods of working for long hours for the benefit of the company and such clashes with the interests of Keaton who's trying to look good before his friends who aren't used to such working journey.

But let's face it: the movie isn't funny. Babaloo Mandel and Lowell Ganz are terrific writers ("Splash", "Parenthood") but they didn't create much moments we could say they were funny, most of the time is just using of caricatures to make some amusing moments, they barely work, maybe two or three scenes. Their concentration to the more engaging aspects was what made "Gung Ho" something really worth seeing. It pokes fun on the culture comparisons between U.S., specially when it comes to both nations traditions but it also establishes a greater sense of supporting each other, one might be better than the other but only together they come up with something bigger, better and stronger. Having a movie like this made on a decade where American superiority was presented in every single movie and also in politics is something of a miracle. It basically says: "We're no longer the strongest nation in the world, neither the most efficient but we can aspire to be if we follow some other examples around the world". Sure, it doesn't paint a fair picture for both sides (Japanese as workaholics who can't contest their bosses and Americans as lazy and incompetent), often recurring to stereotypes but presents something good out of those.

Although a little sloppy, clichéd and never serious enough, "Gung Ho" can be used as a source of inspiration, at least for those who have a company and doesn't know how to bring out the best with their employs, it's always there to bring out of the best of a team, push them to the limits and show them the advantages of following new directives. I know this movie is something of a classic between Administration students in here, and most of them enjoy it. Out of this department, it might be a disappointment for Keaton and Ron Howard fans, they're not at their best. The supporting cast formed with the likes of Mimi Rogers, George Wendt, John Turturro, Rance and Clint Howard save this for a bit, but the most interesting in scene is Watanabe, the funniest in the show.

In the end, it reaches its purpose of presenting a parallel between cultures, but never takes our fully enjoyment, neither much of our laughs. Easy to watch and quite motivational though. 7/10

Having watched this movie as part of a homework assignment, it is my opinion that this film is quite honest at a lot of viable levels. By studying the communication assumptions and mistakes that each party makes in reference to the other, based on the fact that symbolic communication is a receiver-based standard, this movie is ideal to show exactly how, when people do not understand the shared symbols, how chaotic and confusing such communications can become.

Therefore, before hucking it under the pile, never to be seen again, you might want to look upon it in a most serious light and see if it doesn't share some elements of truth that you've experienced when interfacing with other cultures in your life.

Just a thought.

David I. Brager

Way, way back in the 1980s, long before NAFTA was drafted and corporations began to shed their national identities, the United States and Japan were at each other's throat in the world manufacturing race. Remember sayings like 'Union Yes!,' 'the Japanese are taking this country over,' and 'Americans are lazy?'

As the Reagan era winded down and corporations edged towards a global marketplace, director Ron Howard made one of several trips into the comedy genre with his 1986 smash 'Gung Ho,' which drew over $36 million in U.S. box office receipts. While in many ways dated, Howard's tongue-in-cheek story of colliding cultures in the workplace still offers hard truth for industrial life today.

'Gung Ho' focuses on Hunt Stevenson (Michael Keaton), the automakers union rep from Hadleyville, a small, depressed town in the foothills of Pennsylvania. Stevenson has been asked to visit the Assan Motor Company in Tokyo (similar to real-life Toyota), which is considering a U.S. operation at the town's empty plant. With hundreds of residents out of work and the town verging on collapse, Assan decides to move in and Stevenson is hired as a liaison between company officials and workers on the assembly line.

The 112 minutes of 'Gung Ho' is a humorous look at these two sides, with their strengths and weaknesses equally considered: on one hand, an American workforce that values its traditions but is often caught in the frenzy of pride and trade unionism; on the other hand, Japanese workers who are extremely devoted to their job yet lacking in personal satisfaction and feelings of self-worth. In Stevenson, we find an American working class figure of average intelligence with the skills to chat people through misunderstandings. With the survival of his workers' jobs and most of Hadleyville on the line, Stevenson proves a likable guy who wants nothing more than a fair chance, although his cleverness will sink him into a great deal of trouble. Besides answering to the heads of Assan, we witness a delicate balancing act between Stevenson and his fellow union members, many of whom he grew up with. This includes Buster (George Wendt), Willie (John Turturro), and Paul (Clint Howard, Ron's brother).

The Japanese cast is headed by Gedde Watanabe, also known for 'Sixteen Candles' and 'Volunteers.' Watanabe plays Kazihiro, the plant manager who is down on his luck and begins to feel a sympathy for American life. He is constantly shadowed by Saito (Sab Shimono), the nephew of Assan's CEO who is desperate to take his spot in the pecking order. While given a light touch, these characters fare very well in conveying ideas of the Japanese working culture.

With Hunt Stevenson dominating the script, Michael Keaton has to give a solid performance for this film to work. 'Gung Ho' is indeed a slam-dunk success for Keaton, who also teamed with Ron Howard in 1994's 'The Paper.' He made this film during a string of lighter roles that included 'Mr. Mom,' 'Beetle Juice,' and 'The Dream Team' before venturing into 'Batman,' 'One Good Cop,' and 'My Life.' It's also hard not to like Gedde Watanabe's performance as the odd man out, who first wears Japanese ribbons of shame before teaming up with Stevenson to make the auto plant a cohesive unit.

The supporting cast is top-notch, including Wendt, Turturro, Shimono, and Soh Yamamura as Assan CEO Sakamoto. Mimi Rogers supplies a romantic interest as Audrey, Hunt's girlfriend. Edwin Blum, Lowell Ganz, and Babaloo Mandel teamed up for Gung Ho's solid writing. The incidental music, which received a BMI Film Music Award, was composed by Thomas Newman. Gung Ho's soundtrack songs are wall-to-wall 80s, including 'Don't Get Me Wrong,' 'Tuff Enuff,' and 'Working Class Man.'

The success of 'Gung Ho' actually led to a short-lived TV series on ABC. While more impressive as a social commentary twenty years ago, Ron Howard's film still has its comic value. It is available on DVD as part of the Paramount Widescreen Collection and is a tad short-changed. Audio options are provided in English 5.1 surround, English Dolby surround, and French 'dubbing,' but subtitles are in English only. There are no extras, not even the theatrical trailer. On the plus side, Paramount's digital transfer is quite good, with little grain after the opening credits and high quality sound. While a few extras would have been helpful - especially that 'Gung Ho' was a box office success - there's little to complain about the film presentation itself.

*** out of 4