Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald sees Koki Mitani in his directorial debut. The storyline revolves around The Woman of Destiny, a big, new romantic drama from Miyako Suzuki (Kyoka Suzuki), scriptwriter for Japan's No.1 radio station. The new drama is set to blast ratings through the roof, so when leading female voice talent Nokko Senbon (Keiko Toda), decides that unless the script is changed, she will refuse to go on air, all hell breaks loose. No longer content to play Ritsuko, a fisherman's wife in a small village, she demands to be made Mary Jane, a major trial lawyer in New York City. With only minutes to go, the 'peace at any price' producer, Ushijima (Masahiko Nishimura), gives in and suddenly the narrator and all the other actors demand equally outrageous changes to their own roles.

What was a sweet, touching drama becomes a big city action epic full of bursting dams, rocket ships, Chicago gangsters and machine gun warfare. And what ensues at the radio station is madness and mayhem as the producer tries to meet all of the actors' demands and still keep the show going.

The actors here play a major role in turning what was already a great script into an even better movie. Toshiyuki Hosokawa is absolutely hilarious to watch as the proud and stubborn Hamamura Jo, who demands a role comparable in status to Nokko's Mary Jane, only to have his character killed off. But nothing is final in show biz and he brings himself back into the story with a vengeance. Moro Moro'oka plays Bucky, a macho guy full of funny antics while Kondo Yashimasa plays Shiro Suzuki, husband to the station's scriptwriter, who finds himself somehow sucked into the mayhem. Also watch out for Shunji Fujimura, who plays a security guard who is roped in as a special effects guy and Ken Watanabe, who plays an overly emotional truck driver.

Masahiko Nishimura is simply outstanding here as the constantly harassed producer, Ushijima, and it's no wonder that he won Best Supporting Actor at the Kinema Junpo Nippon Movie Awards of 1997. A special mention should also be made of Kyoka Suzuki, who, as the scriptwriter Miyako, looks on in horror as her original script is torn apart.

But what's a story without a hero, right? That role here is played by Toshiaki Karasawa who as the, cool and handsome DJ Kudo, saves the day in the end. However the hero part is almost completely overshadowed by the brilliantly done humour and the wonderful acting of the supporting cast. This is really refreshing as most movies nowadays simply concentrate on the hero with the other characters playing secondary roles. The dialogue is great, creating humour and laughter effortlessly, the story moves along at a nice steady pace with never a stale moment. Great timing and strong performances from even minor characters plus a wonderfully obstacle-strewn plot make it an enjoyable watch. And the best thing about it is that it doesn't have to employ cheap slapstick humour in order to entertain the audience.

Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald has to be easily the best comedy I've seen in long, long time especially when pitted against the likes of Martin Lawrence's Big Momma's House. It has already won numerous awards, including one for best script in Japan and earned rave reviews from most reviewers. Try not to miss it, as this is one of the better foreign films showing.