Radio (2003) Movie Information:

Radio (2003) Directed by: Michael Tollin Radio (2003) Written by: Michael Rich, Gary Smith Radio (2003) Cast: Cuba Gooding, Ed Harris, Alfre Woodard, S Merkerson, Brent Sexton, Chris Mulkey, Sarah Drew, Riley Smith, Patrick Breen, Debra Winger

Radio (2003) U.S. Distributor: Columbia TriStar Radio (2003) U.K. Distributor: Sony Pictures

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Radio (2003) Synopsis:

James Robert Kennedy--nicknamed 'Radio' because of his vintage radio collection and his love of music--is a loner in Anderson, South Carolina, pushing his ever-present grocery cart up and down the streets. He speaks to no one and is rarely spoken to, until one day, Coach Harold Jones, one of the town's most respected men, and coach of the popular high school football team, befriends him. Radio is suspicious at first. But Coach Jones is persistent, even enlisting the help of Radio's mother. Jones' friends and family are taken aback as well since, until he met Radio, all his energies were poured exclusively into football. Slowly, Coach Jones earns Radio's trust and opens up a new world to him. He invites Radio to help out at football practice and during games and to sit in on his classes at school, despite the initial misgivings of Principal Daniels. He also champions him to the football players, the students and faculty. Coach Jones' life is also enriched by Radio, from whom he learns to value friendship and family ties as much as he does coaching football. Still, there are those in town who believe that Coach Jones' devotion to the young man is distracting him from his duties as head coach of the football team. There are several attempts to have Radio barred from the classroom and, after his mother's untimely death, remanded to a mental-health facility. Coach Jones valiantly fights off these efforts, but he is finally forced to make a difficult decision, which will impact both his growing friendship with Radio and his career as a football coach.

Radio (2003) Movie Review:

If it weren't true, this film would be unbearable in its heartwarming expressions of tolerance and love. But it is true, and the characters have an authenticity that transcends the over-earnest filmmaking. As a young man, James Robert Kennedy (Gooding) is nicknamed for the ubiquitous radio he carries around his South Carolina town. It's the mid-1970s, and his race and mental disability leave him on the fringe of society until the high school's Coach Jones (Harris) asks him to help with the football team he's so clearly fascinated with. As their friendship deepens, they draw out the best in each other and the team, even as the town remains suspicious of Jones' motives and Radio's place in society.

Even though Tollin's direction is too slick and cosy, the film comes to life in its vividly written and performed characters. Gooding somehow avoids grandstanding in what would normally be an Oscar-bait role; he remains completely unselfconscious, drawing out Radio's simple honestly without ever being noble. And Harris expertly underplays the script's heroism to instead play a normal guy doing the right thing for a change, but still finding room for improvement. Supporting characters are also strong--Woodard as the conflicted school principal, Merkerson as Radio's earthy and caring mother, Smith as a jealous but thoughtful star player, and especially Winger as Jones' patient wife. Mulkey is also good in the thankless villain role, but it's here that the film begins to unravel: Why do we need a villain?

Screenwriter Rich seems obsessed with introducing dramatic conflict, which feels both strained and convenient. Everything remotely meaningful in the narrative is telegraphed heavily both in the script and in the filmmaking itself (major musical shifts, clunky direction). At least they avoid a cornball climactic game or an overwrought gruelling confrontation in lieu of an intriguingly understated finale ... which of course gets very weepy. As a look at how one person's compassion can transform someone else--and a whole community--this is a powerful story indeed. But it would be much better as a scruffy indie, free from the slick, manufactured structure of Hollywood.

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Radio (2003) review written by: Rich Cline