Movie spotlight: Radio (2003), starring Cuba Gooding Jr.

Radio (2003) - Columbia Pictures

Radio. 

Drama/Sports. Rated PG for mild language and thematic elements. Recommended for family viewing, with kids of all ages, with parental input.

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Radio is a one hour, forty-nine minute, Columbia Pictures 2003 release, in color, directed by Mike Tollin, starring Cuba Gooding, Jr., Ed Harris, Alfre Woodard, Debra Winger, and S. Epatha Merkerson. This movie is based on a true story about a developmentally disabled young man from a small town in South Carolina. Radio will provide well-rounded entertainment for adults and kids of all ages.

Radio tells the story of a mentally challenged young man named James Robert Kennedy, later known as “Radio” (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), who would often roam the streets of the town he lived in, mostly alone and unsupervised, because his mother worked long hours to provide for both of them. After an incident where a group of athletes bullied Radio, the coach of the high school football team, Coach Jones (Ed Harris), invited Radio to come and join them at the daily afternoon football practice. 

As days and weeks went by, Coach Jones developed a deeper bond of friendship with Radio and would often give him a ride home after football practice. Coach Jones began to let Radio participate in the football practices, stand in the sidelines during the actual football games, and even attend classes under his supervision at T. L. Hanna High School. The principal of the high school, Ms. Daniels (Alfre Woodard), became more uncomfortable with Radio’s increasing involvement with the student body, as did some of the fathers of the boys on the football team. There’s no apparent reason for Coach Jones’ tremendous amount of compassion for Radio, but a conversation with his teen daughter later in the movie gives insight into Coach Jones’ actions and motivations.

Radio is really a story about human compassion—Coach Jones’ compassion for a young man who had so little going for him in life, and Jones’ desire to make a positive impact on this man’s life by including him in the activities of those within the coach's circle of influence—the high school football team as well as the faculty and students of T. L. Hanna High School. This movie realistically portrays the attitudes of the people in that small town toward Radio, and how Coach Jones’ efforts to reach out to Radio forced many in that community to reexamine their thoughts about, and treatment of mentally challenged people.

Radio has many evocative scenes—for example, a scene in which Coach Jones comforted Radio in his home during a family crisis, and another which portrayed Coach Jones as a committed husband and father, when, at the town meeting, he announced an important decision he'd made in order to make time for other priorities. 

Cuba Gooding, Jr. (Radio) and Ed Harris (Coach Jones) are Academy Award winners for roles played in earlier movies, and both deliver fine performances in Radio. This movie can be viewed by parents with children of all ages, especially those eight years and older. The action and excitement of the sports scenes and the overall storyline can, however, offer entertainment for kids younger than eight, and any of the mild language or delicate theme issues may be subtly-enough delivered to be above their comprehension level. If you are able to watch Radio with your family, you may find yourself pleasantly surprised with the cleanliness and wholesome, uplifting values showcased by this 2003 release. 

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Author, poet, columnist, and speaker Jennifer Anne Messing of Portland, Oregon, is a wife, and mother of three children, ages 22, 16, and 9. She has a bachelor's degree in Religious Education and a diploma in Journalism. A past president of the Oregon Christian Writers, Jennifer Anne has had 175+ articles, movie reviews, and poems published in 55 different magazines and books including The East County Gazette, The Christian Journal, Bible Advocate, Evangel, Live, Standard, The Gem, Christian Fiction Online, Nudges from God, and Romancing the Soul. Readers can find out more about Jennifer Anne Messing's books and speaking, and can contact her at www.JenniferAnneMessing.com.

Copyright 2010 by Jennifer Anne Fabregas Messing. Contact the author for reprint information.