Destiny Turns on the Radio (1995)

Director:

Jack Baran

Writers (WGA):

Robert Ramsey (written by) &
Matthew Stone (written by)

Release Date:

28 April 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Comedy | Fantasy

Tagline:

Fate visits in ways you never expect.

Plot:

Johnny Destiny burns into Las Vegas in his hot Dodge RoadRunner, stopping only to pick up a stranger stranded in the desert...

Plot Keywords:

Swimming Pool | Motel | Pregnancy | Las Vegas | Automobile

Cast

Dylan McDermott	...	Julian Goddard
Nancy Travis	...	Lucille
James LeGros	...	Thoreau
Quentin Tarantino	...	Johnny Destiny
James Belushi	...	Tuerto
Janet Carroll	...	Escabel
David Cross	...	Ralph Dellaposa
Richard Edson	...	Gage
Bob Goldthwait	...	Mr. Smith
Barry Shabaka Henley	...	Dravec
Lisa Jane Persky	...	Katrina
Sarah Trigger	...	Francine
Tracey Walter	...	Pappy
Allen Garfield	...	Vinnie Vidivici
Ralph Brannen	...	Henchman

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #33751) | Iceland:L | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Company:

Rysher Entertainment

Soundtrack:

Just my imagination (running away with me)

A Highlight of the Magical Desert Genre, Class of 95-98

"Destiny Turns on the Radio" is an extremely fun trip into a weird mythological netherworld of Las Vegas. It is a film that implements a purposefully corny magical realism to tell a story of an escaped convict rediscovering his destiny.

And magical it is. This film is in a class of a few other 90's films (all of which never really found an audience outside the late-night-Cinemax crowd) that capture a magically bright, giddy, and surreal atmosphere -- this one in a gleeful Las Vegas setting. Its classmates include "Box of Moonlight" and "Mojave Moon".

Despite a few technical flaws (the sound's iffy and so is some blocking -- and I'd lose Tarrantino if this was my film), the movie just works in an odd sort of way. The cast seems to be having a great time (note especially Tracey Walter and James Legros' father-son's-best-friend bonding scenes), the locations and cinematography are dazzling, and it provides an intangible escape into a weird cinematic netherworld. It's as if some portal opened up to these filmmakers in this specific class of the mid-90s and enlightened them all with late-night-Cinemax charm. More, please!