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Toshiaki Karasawa, Kyoka Suzuki, Masahiko Nishimura, Keiko Toda, Takehiko Ono ... see more see more... , Shiro Namiki , Yasukiyo Umeno , Jun Inoue , Yoshimasa Kondo , Hiromasa Taguchi , Moro Morooka , Akira Fuse , Toshiyuki Hosokawa , Ken Watanabe , Nobuko Miyamoto , Shunji Fujimura

Noted television screenwriter and founder of the acclaimed theatrical group Tokyo Sunshine Boys, Koki Mitani makes his directorial debut with this wickedly funny look at a live radio broadcast gone ho... read more read more...rribly wrong. As a part of a PR stunt, a Tokyo radio station holds an amateur screenwriting contest and the winner (and only contestant) is a meek and guileless housewife named Miyako (Kyoka Suzuki) who spun a sincere little melodrama about a marriage falling apart. At first, everything seems like a dream -- the show's high-strung producer Ushijima (Masahiko Nishimura) is calling Miyako by the honorific sensei and the cast and crew seem to radiate a cool, yet heartfelt, professionalism. Then calamity strikes. Prima donna actress Nokko (Keiko Toda) -- who is ticked off at the current state of her career -- decides moments before air time that her character Ritsuko should be named Mary Jane. Instead of being a modest housewife, Mary Jane is casually turned into a high-powered lawyer. Soon the other characters want to play glamorous foreigners too. The setting is switched from sleeping resort town Atami to Manhattan and then later Chicago. The romantic male goes from being a truck driver to a pilot and then an astronaut. As further plot changes continue to pile up -- ranging from gangster hits to dam breaks to moon landings -- Ushijima and director Kudo (Toshiaki Karasawa) try desperately to keep ahead of things while poor Miyako -- her dreams of being a screenwriter thoughtlessly trashed -- quietly seethes. This film was screened at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Flixster Users

90% liked it

980 ratings

Critics

88% liked it

8 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 38 min.

Directed by: Koki Mitani

Release Date: September 8, 1999

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DVD Release Date: March 18, 2003

Stats: 73 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (73)

  • coolystewie
    June 5, 2007
    coolystewie
    A really funny Japanese movie about a radio show, but the actors want their character's name changed, then the setting, then the plot. What will the poor scriptwriter do?

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Critic Reviews

David Cornelius
July 17, 2003
David Cornelius, eFilmCritic.com

Mr. McDonald is a loving tribute to the magic of storytelling that's warm, huggable, overflowing with wonder and charm. Full Review

Steve Rhodes
November 13, 2001
Steve Rhodes, Internet Reviews

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. Full Review

Derek Elley
September 24, 2008
Derek Elley, Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Stephen Holden
November 13, 2001
Stephen Holden, New York Times

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Mick LaSalle
November 13, 2001
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

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Kenneth Turan
November 13, 2001
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

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J. Hoberman
November 13, 2001
J. Hoberman, Village Voice

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December 6, 2005
Film Threat

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December 6, 2005
Film Threat

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Emanuel Levy
August 14, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

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  • In the movie Welcome Back Mr. McDonald, what name did one of the characters adlib for himself after looking at a bag of McDonald's take out?  Answer »
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