To say that "Radio" is simply mediocre is giving the film a lot more credit than it deserves; it's also manipulative and sappy.
No film since 2001's "I Am Sam" has used the subject of the mentally disabled so shamelessly as a device to evoke pity — and wring undeserved tears — from its audience.
The fact that the people responsible for this 1970s-period drama have made something so reprehensibly phony out of a true story makes you want to slap them silly. (The footage of the real-life characters portrayed here — shown during the closing credits — demonstrates just how poor a job this film does of depicting them.)
The title character is a real person, South Carolina resident James Robert Kennedy, known as "Radio" to his friends (because of his love for radios). As played by Cuba Gooding Jr., he's a young man who keeps to himself and can be seen around his home town pushing a shopping cart.
That is, until he's spotted by Harold Jones (Ed Harris), the town's head high school football coach, who is determined to get to know this sweet-natured, nearly mute man, who's been hassled by some of the team's players.
So coach Jones decides to give him a "job" with the team, and he involves Radio in some of the practices and lets him participate in pre-game warm-ups. But for some — including the school's principal (Alfre Woodard) — there's an issue about whether Jones is actually exploiting the young man. And as the team suffers through an unsuccessful season, some in the community start wondering if the coach has divided his loyalties.
Among the film's numerous problems is the overuse of music to underscore the drama. Pop and R&B songs are playing virtually nonstop, and when they're not being played, the orchestral score intrudes on even the quietest moments.
Still, at times you're thankful the songs are there to drown out Gooding, who can't seem to get a handle on his character. At times he seems to be portraying Radio as profoundly retarded, and in other scenes, he just seems slightly eccentric, with a speech impediment that makes him sound like Eddie Murphy playing Buckwheat on "Saturday Night Live."
Even the usually reliable Harris seems uninspired here. And Woodard and Debra Winger (consigned to a relatively minor role as the coach's wife) are so underused that it's criminal.
"Radio" is rated PG for athletics-related violence (tackling, as well as a brief police scuffle) and some scattered use of strong profanity. Running time: 106 minutes.
E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com