Radio

Rating:
Summary: Unable to find it's correct frequency...
Review: Okay, here's a timeline for you. I heard that Cuba Gooding Jr. was involved in a movie about a mentally handicapped man who inspired a town through his courage and spirit. Not interested. Then I heard that Ed Harris was involved and I began to care a little more. Then Debra Winger and Alfre Woodard were added to the cast list and I started perking up a bit. Then I saw the trailer for the film and it left me with a small (but present) lump in my throat for whatever reason (call me just a little too excited to sit through Seabiscut which is where I first saw the preview). Then I catch "The Fighting Temptations" and see that Cuba is back on track in turning in a fun and inspired performance leaving roles in "Snow Dogs" and "Boat Trip" far behind.

So when I had the opportunity to catch a sneak preview of "Radio" the other night I jumped at it. Finally a movie that I had been interested in seeing I get to take in before reading other advance reviews and predictions. Call me a big stick in the mud but I found the movie to be a quickly made weepie that totally panders to the audience in its attempts at yanking at our heartstrings. Not nearly as manipulative as the deplorable "Pay it Forward" the movie does have many moments of pathos that had me rolling my eyes.

Playing someone with a handicap is tricky business. It takes a certain type of actor to pull this off and, I'm sad to report, Cuba is not the man for the job. Remember Dustin Hoffman's performance in "Rain Man"? I believe that to be the performance others have to measure up to. Hoffman created a real, flesh and blood person that made you forget it was Dustin Hoffman playing the role. Cuba the person is present through his entire performance. It seems like he watched a few videos of handicapped people and just sort of made the rest up as he went along. There are some moments that had people snickering (not me) in the audience because his handicap is so over-the-top that it borders on parody.

That said, I just found the movie to be so...ordinary. Much like "Men of Honor" with Cuba, there was just nothing special about the film. This could have been an ABC Sunday Night movie and been better received. None of the performances leap off the screen...they all just sort of sit there and go through the motions.

Ed Harris does turn in a solid performance as always and I felt bad for him because maybe his agent sat him down and said, "Okay, we tried the terminal illness performance and the crazed artist performance. How about if we take this role of a white man helping a severely handicapped black man. That will surely get you an Oscar". I hope Joe Roth from Revolution Studios paid for Debra Winger's phone bill since she clearly is phoning in her performance...she's better than this and she (and we) know it. Alfre Woodard is wasted in what is basically a handful of scenes that she shot with Ed Harris in the hallways at school. It's like they had her for two days and just kept changing her blouse to mark the difference between scenes.

Another problem with the movie is that there is no main antagonist. All the people represented as mean in the film are those that can't see Radio for the inspiring person he is. It's only when Ed Harris stops and tells them "Be nice to Radio" that the characters do a 180 degree turn and are like..."Oh yeah, you're right!" I can count at least 2 or 3 instances in the movie where this happens.

Like I said...the more is so normal and un-special that it only makes you feel bad when you don't get all weepy when bad things happen to Radio or when the townspeople finally realize how special this guy is.

What did I like about the film? The pacing was different than I thought it would be. It doesn't focus just on the football season but goes into the basketball one as well. For a movie set in the 70's they really dulled it down a lot. There were lots of period costumes and sets that were sort of a nice distraction (bonus points if you can count all 10 HUGE Afro wigs they put on several characters).

So at the end of the film is the only time that lump in my throat came back a little. When the film skips ahead to the present and we see the real people the movie is based on...that's when you see the reality of the story. It's too bad that the best part of the movie is the one not featuring the actors we've been watching for the previous 100 minutes. The movie ends up being another wasted vehicle for Cuba Gooding Jr. who still has yet to show any validity as to why he won the Oscar and another strong performance of Ed Harris that gets lost in a sub-par movie.

Rating:
Summary: Radio.
Review: I would give this 5 stars and 4 boxes of hankies.

In an age of movies with CG characters, special effects, and explosives....Radio is a breath of fresh air. It shows you do not need all of those things if the story teller is good at their job. This is the case here. All involved are excellent story tellers. This is a simple and powerfullly emotional film about a mentaly challenged man and the football coach who reached out and befriended him. It is a true story and Radio is still coaching 30 years later. It is a movie that teaches us the lessons of tolerance and respect. It is one of those very rare movies that you can sit down with the whole family and watch. Cuba turns in an incrediable performance especially considering that he has very few lines in the movie. If you thought his performance in Men of Honor was incrediable, then you will enjoy this. I saw it right after my husband got through watching the super bowl. When I came in I heard the announcer say those football players showed incredible spirit. Radio is the one who shows that, not over paid football players. This movie is so powerfull I went out and brought it so I can watch it again and again. And when my nephew gets old enough, I will sit him down and watch this movie with him and tech him about tolerance. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this 100.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Film!
Review: As father of a severely autistic boy, I enjoyed very much Cuba Gooding Junior's portrail of a developmentally disabled man who just wanted to be part of a community. Gooding's character becomes mascot of the town high school football team, as he gains acceptance from the team, he still has to battle with the stereotypes of the conservative towns folk who think this "freak" has no place in our town.

Good study of human nature the best and the worst too!!

Jeffrey McAndrew
author of "Our Brown-Eyed Boy"

Rating:
Summary: Spotlight on Radio
Review: Cuba's performance is an embarrassment, and the script is so laden with well-meaning platitudes that it grows nauseating after a while. I felt bad for Gooding; he really seemed desperate for another Oscar nomination, and to my eyes he seemed to be trying way too hard. Toward the end it gets so sugary sweet I felt my teeth begin to ache.

Unless you're easily manipulated by cheap sentiment, or are a sucker for "inspiring" true stories, then stay far away. I had to turn off this movie several times and walk away, just to control my gag reflex, it was so bad. I'm amazed people are giving it such good reviews...but then, there are people who will praise anything.

Rating:
Summary: Very funny but in questionable taste.
Review: I think we all have laughed at the expense of retards before, it sure is fun AND easy but sometimes it makes us feel less than perfect about ourselves. I feel the same way about this film. It was hard not to laugh when Radio was tied up but as a father to a retarded son I couldn't help but to feel bad about my laughter.

So as a comedy it gets the job done but if you want to feel good about yourself afterwards I recomend Mel Brooks' Spaceballs

Rating:
Summary: Touching
Review: I am quit young but i wnet to see radio with my school and it was so sad how they tied him up and put him in the shed and when the coach found him he was crying i think radio is agot to see film he is mentally broken down but his mum looks after him but when she dies he just gets really bad andyou really feel sorry for him when it had finished all the girls were crying it is just so deep most people make fun of people who are mentally ill but i look at them and see things they can do things you wouldnt expect them to be able to do .So Radio is a defent got to see movie.

Rating:
Summary: Great Movie!
Review: This is a good family movie, which shows how wonderful it is when tough guys choose to be tender and unselfish. There was little swearing, not much. We loved it!

Rating:
Summary: No
Review: It gets 1 star for the teeth, represent for black people properly Cuba, it's foul.

Rating:
Summary: sentimental but hard to resist
Review:


"Radio" tells the true life story of a high school football coach who befriends a severely mentally retarded young man (whom they nickname "Radio" because he loves listening to the radio so much), lets him hang out with the team, and, thereby, changes not only the boy's life but the lives of just about everyone in the South Carolina town in which they live. When Radio's behavior on the sidelines begins to serve as a distraction during the games, some of the less sympathetic, diehard football fans of the town make an effort to downplay his role or eliminate his presence altogether.

Set in 1976, "Radio" is a thoroughly predictable, sentimental heart tugger that will have people either gagging on the syrup or crying in their popcorn. For all its heavy handed manipulation, however, "Radio" turns out to be a pretty decent little film due, primarily, to the superb performances by Ed Harris and Cube Gooding Jr., and to the fact that the movie doesn't overplay its hand as often as it might. In fact, it wisely underplays much of the conflict, allowing the moments of quiet subtlety to predominate. As played by Harris, Coach Jones is a solid, decent, caring man who can't help but give his love to a fellow human being who needs it. Harris' soft-spoken strength makes us believe in the goodness of the man. The film does an effective job conveying the incredulous reactions of many of the otherwise well-meaning town folk, as even Radio's own mother asks Joe why he is doing what he's doing. The scenes between Jones and this woman, lovingly played by S. Epatha Merkerson, are some of the finest in the film. The movie also isn't afraid to confront the issue of whether the people of the town - and that includes Jones himself - aren't actually being patronizing towards Radio in their treatment of him, and whether he isn't more of a "mascot" for the team than a bona fide member. Gooding Jr. slips effortlessly into the role of Radio, making him a compelling figure even though he has virtually no lines of dialogue in the movie. Alfre Woodard is excellent as the caring but nervous school principal who sees Radio's presence on campus as a potential threat to student safety, but who has enough faith in Jones to give Radio a chance to prove himself. It's nice to see Debra Winger in a movie again, although her role as Jones' ever-patient, ever-supportive wife, doesn't give her much room to strut her stuff as an actress.

There's no denying that "Radio" is a humanity-of-man type film that could easily set the teeth on edge with its Goody Two Shoes philosophy of life. Be that as it may, "Radio" turns out to be a warm, uplifting film that even Scrooge would probably like.

Rating:
Summary: Usual Story But With Unusual People.
Review: RADIO is one of those feel-good movies about a group of people who overcome prejudice and learn to live and work together in harmony. It's a true story loosely based on the real-life relationship between high school football coach Harold Jones and James Robert Kennedy, affectionally named Radio because of his love for the electronic communication gadgets. The movie explores how the relationship between Radio (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and Jones (Ed Harris) begins, grows, and develops over the years and how Radio overcomes his natural tendancies to become a local hero.

Gooding and Harris are excellent in their roles and both probably deserved Oscar nominations for their performances. Unfortunately, most critics blasted the movie for its syrupy sentiment and some claimed it was a racist film stereotyping blacks as being dumb and stupid (a criticism I never understood because the movie is all about overcoming racism and stereotypes). Anyway, the acting in the film is good, but the movie is overly cliched and drags on too long in certain places. However, the story is a good one and the relationship between Radio and Coach Jones is fascinating. I think the movie would have been stronger if it had focused solely on their relationship and not so much on how the other people of the town. An average yarn, but one that is enjoyable to watch.