Meet the real face behind the movie. See pics of the real James Robert Kennedy (Radio) and the watch the trailer. One day, Radio is instigated by one of the basketball team players to enter the girls' locker room. The following day, Radio distributes the gifts around town. Radio often pauses to observe the local high school football team in their training sessions, led by Coach Harold Jones. He was known to ask students before football games, "We gonna get that quarterback? More language than "a couple" as listed in category section! Cinema/rental charts; Common mistakes; Most popular movies; Movie Mistakes Blog ; Discord server; Play F**k, Marry, Kill; Patreon page; Mistakes/trivia books; Movie Mistakes subreddit; Movie trivia subreddit; Notifications. Debra Winger appears in the thankless understanding-wife role (though she does carry a copy of Betty Friedan's revolutionary Feminine Mystique through one scene). FOLLOW US: SEARCH: Browse by Movie REEL FACES HOME: Radio (2003) Starring Cuba Gooding Jr., Ed Harris, Debra Winger, Alfre Woodard based on the December 16, 1996 Sports Illustrated Article "Someone to Lean On" by … Radio is reluctant to tell anyone who set him up, but Coach Jones determines the player's identity regardless and punishes him by ordering him to sit out of a decisive basketball match. Download the Study Guide. Radio (film). Radio (film) Summary. Add something Log in / sign up. Coach Jones frees Radio and punishes the team. [4] The film holds a score of 38 out of 100 on Metacritic. It's always a little too easy to have minority or disabled characters in movies serve as saint-like or magical creatures who teach others how to be more authentic, yet this film handles the challenge better than most. “Talk Radio” is based on a play Bogosian wrote and starred in, and it was the right decision to star him in the movie, too, instead of some famous film actor. Common Sense and other associated names and logos are trademarks of Common Sense Media, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (FEIN: 41-2024986). Harris and Gooding give their characters depth and decency to provide some grounding for the story and keep it from getting too sugary. Do you think Radio was a respectful, accurate someone with a disability? [5] The film grossed $52.3 million with a budget of approximately $30 million. [citation needed] ReelSports provided the football and basketball coordination for the film. The film co-stars Debra Winger and Alfre Woodard. Your privacy is important to us. Plot summary for Radio (2003), plus mistakes, quotes, trivia and more. Radio is sent into the girls' locker room as a cruel prank; nothing is shown. See something that needs to be addressed? Jones takes it upon himself to assist in Radio's care, and gives him his nickname due to his penchant for listening to the radio. That same evening, Jones reveals to Mary Helen that his attachment to Radio and need to assist him stems from a childhood incident in which Jones, as a child making a living off delivering packages, did not help a mentally-disabled boy his own age crying behind barbed wire. Radio is a nice, old-fashioned family movie about the importance of kindness. Radio spends much of the day roaming the town and pushing a shopping cart, which he uses to collect anything interesting he finds. Learn how and when to remove this template message, "The Sports Whisperer, Probing Psychic Wounds", "James Kennedy, Who Inspired the Movie 'Radio,' Dies at 73", "James 'Radio' Kennedy, football fixture who inspired a Hollywood movie, dies at 73", "Radio Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More", "Radio Movie True Story - Real James Robert Kennedy, Coach Harold Jones", "The Official Web Site of Radio and Coach Jones", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Radio_(2003_film)&oldid=984561839, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 20 October 2020, at 19:26. Although the movie only the Coach has fought against all odds to integrate Radio in the society, that work requires a union of various links such as family, educators and society as a whole. Characters are cruel but learn their lesson. The Radio (film) Study Pack contains: Essays & Analysis (2) Critical Review of the Movie "Radio" Starring Ed Harris and Cuba Gooding Jr. 969 words, approx. Families can talk about disabled people they know and how they are treated. Radio begins assisting Coach Jones on the football team, and incites the team before each match as a mascot-type figure. Lesson of kindness permeates inspiring true story. Great movie and a great James Horner soundtrack! Everything you need to understand or teach Radio (film). [1] The article and the movie are based on the true story of T. L. Hanna High School football coach Harold Jones (Ed Harris) and a mentally handicapped young man, James Robert "Radio" Kennedy (Cuba Gooding Jr.). In a cruel prank, Radio is sent into the girls' locker room (nothing shown). The team retaliates the following day by tying Radio's hands and feet and locking him in the gear shed. It was filmed primarily in Walterboro, South Carolina because its buildings and downtown core still fit the look of the era the film was trying to depict. His nickname, Radio, was given to him by townspeople because Kennedy grew up fascinated by radios and because of the radio he carried everywhere he went. The film's lead character, Radio, is based on James Robert "Radio" Kennedy, who was born October 14, 1946[2] in Anderson, South Carolina. Everything you need to understand or teach Following the death of Radio's mother, pressure from the school board to have Radio put in a specialized institution strengthens. Searching for streaming and purchasing options ... Common Sense is a nonprofit organization. Radio's increased attention from Jones is faced with resistance from the football team's parents, who see Radio as a distraction from their own sons' successes. Get full reviews, ratings, and advice delivered weekly to your inbox. © Common Sense Media. Radio is a 2003 American semi-biographical sports drama film directed by Mike Tollin, and inspired by the 1996 Sports Illustrated article "Someone to Lean On" by Gary Smith. He pushes a shopping cart around and barely speaks. Following the holidays, Radio begins taking classes in the high school to complete his formal education. Rotten Tomatoes, home of the Tomatometer, is the most trusted measurement of quality for Movies & TV. The inspirational movie Radio, starring Cuba Gooding JR. and Ed Harris, is highly remarkable and recommended for all viewers. Parents: Set preferences and get age-appropriate recommendations with Common Sense Media Plus. Some tense moments; sad death (off-screen). [6] Cuba Gooding Jr. earned a Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst Actor for his performance in the film but also an NAACP Image Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture. Clips are shown of the real-life Radio leading the football team well into his fifties. The story follows the struggle of a poor, mentally challenged boy (Radio)... Movie Review: Radio All is happily resolved in time for the inevitable "We learned more from him than he ever learned from us" speech and the montage showing the real Radio still leading the team onto the field, 25 years later.