Toru Yamamoto	...	(Director)
Toriko Yoshikawa, Toru Yamamoto, Ken'ichi Suzuki	...	(Writer)
Kumiko Asô	...	Aki
Yô Oizumi	...	Yagu
Ayaka Miyoshi	...	Hatsuki
Eiko Koike	...
Mah	...
Rena Nônen	...
Akira Takemura	...
Anna Tsuchiya	...
Muga Tsukaji	...
Takeshi Hayama	...	Composer

Comments: A possibly message-to-our-youth film about family values revolving around two 30-something ex-punk rockers and a daughter.

The Good stuff:

Kumiko Asô - She doesn't get enough love. Here she plays the difficult role of a skilled but unmarried mom. More on the difficulty later.

Ayaka Miyoshi - I'm a sucker for precocious teens who play more mature than their moms. Her performance is natural and very nuanced. It's hard to take your eyes off her. She's the rock of this film. I look forward to more of her.

Toru Yamamoto - He shows up loud and obnoxious making stupid faces and I thought: "Damn! There goes this film." But he won me over. Kudos, dude. And when they get to the big scene where they actually perform, he nails it (even though he had some pretty noxious nonsense he had to get out of the way first).

The less than stellar:

The film is a little message-y but not heavy-handed.
I have no idea what the Japanese think of punk rock, or even rock for that matter--in mainstream film context, anyway. I've seen a few films dealing with the subject and none of them have been anything like the punk I know. A little nit-picky, no points lost. I'm just curious.

Difficulty:

As a musician, as a guitar player, I cringe every time I'm going to see someone fake playing guitar. I've avoided watching this for some time for that reason. Kumiko fakes it in a very understated, mom-like way, complete with a MILFy guitar solo. I'm sure she researched and practiced. She is a major pro as an actress. It was kind of lame but not too objectionable (and not as good as Miyazaki Aoi, who actually sweated up a storm in Soranin (2010)). (The rest of Kumiko's band rocked soundly). She was also tasked with playing an ex-punk mom who drinks a lot. Honestly, if the film were billed and played about ex-hippies I think she could have played the character exactly as she did here. Tough role. And people who have to act being drunk usually make me want to puke. Again, Kumiko plays it understated and succeeds. I've seen her in a lot of films and she has always delivered but this film moves her to the top tier in my book. Really good for a small, quiet-ish film.


Summary: "Good Morning Everyone!" revolves around a family involved in the punk music scene.

Aki (Kumiko Aso) is a former guitarist for a punk band. She became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter named Hatsuki (Ayaka Miyoshi). The mother and daughter live together happily, but they do have different personalities. A man named Yagu (Yo Oizumi]) then enters their life. He is an ex-member of the punk band that Aki played with. Yagu has feelings for Aki.