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As American manufacturing continues to disappear, especially in the smaller cities and the more rural sections of America, people find themselves in extremely precarious situations. Missing one paycheck puts a large number of families in peril. Others who lose their jobs for a few years often end up having to sell or being forced out of their homes.

Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar's documentary "American Factory" addresses a new pattern developing in American manufacturing: foreign manufacturers setting up factories in the United States. The company in this case is Fuyao, from China, and they have set up in Dayton, Ohio. They specialize in making glass for cars.

In 2008, the General Motors plant in Dayton, Ohio closed, devastating the local economy. Several years later, a Chinese billionaire reopened the facility, promising work to over 2,000 Dayton residents. The company also brought hundreds of Chinese workers to Ohio to help the Americans adapt to the Chinese methods of running a factory. Two of the major problems are both the linguistic and the cultural gaps between them. The results are sometimes funny and sometimes a bit depressing.

At first, everything is great. It eventually unravels with the American workers complaining about the rigid work environment and lack of pay. The Chinese workers and the officers of the company complain that the Ohio workers are stupid and lazy. This causes Cao Dewang, the founder and head of the company, to visit Ohio multiple times, trying to get more production from his American plant.

About ten of the American workers are selected to visit Shanghai to see how a plant should function. They witness workers who would seemingly give their lives for the company. Some do, in a non-lethal way. They often, without complaint, work all weekend. Their average workday is 12 hours, compared to the Americans' eight. Some only see their families once a year.

The best self-reflection comes from Cao. He wonders aloud whether he has done more good or harm in his lifetime and longs for the simpler times of his youth. That scene lasts about 30 seconds. It would have been nice to get more of this but the filmmakers presumably couldn't.

The absolute strangest thing about "American Factory" is the unanswered question as to why a totally rigid company would allow a documentary crew total unsupervised access to disgruntled American workers in their workplace. They also allow the crew to film the Chinese-only meetings, where we hear them denounce their American employees as stupid and lazy. These are the best scenes, but they made me wonder if this was a real documentary or an oddly staged exercise. Who knows? It is a fun watch, though, even if it makes little sense.