Radio (2003)

The story of a high school coach and the developmentally challenged man who he took under his wing.

Director:

Michael Tollin

Writer:

Mike Rich

Stars:

Cuba Gooding Jr., Ed Harris, Debra Winger

3 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cuba Gooding Jr.	...	Radio
Ed Harris	...	Coach Jones
Alfre Woodard	...	Principal Daniels
S. Epatha Merkerson	...	Maggie
Brent Sexton	...	Honeycutt
Chris Mulkey	...	Frank
Sarah Drew	...	Mary Helen
Riley Smith	...	Johnny
Patrick Breen	...	Tucker
Debra Winger	...	Linda
Bill Roberson	...	Del
Kenneth H. Callender	...	Don
Michael Harding	...	Irv the Cop
Charles Garren	...	Clive
Rebecca Koon	...	Waitress

Storyline

Set in 1976, real life Coach Jones befriends mentally disabled black student, Radio. They then form a friendship and bond over the football season. Though things take a turn for the worst when certain fans and parents feel that Radio is a distraction, and is getting in the way of the team succeeding.

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Plot Keywords:

disability | character name as title | radio | coach | high school | 

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Taglines:

His courage made them champions.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild language and thematic elements

Did You Know?

Trivia

Most of the fans in the stands during the games were students and fans from Goose Creek High School, a school in the Charleston suburb of Goose Creek (about 45 minutes from Walterboro, where the movie was filmed). They were chosen because the school uses the same colors as TL Hanna. Goose Creek and Hanna met in the 2008 state playoffs, allowing many of the extras in the movie to meet the real Radio.

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Goofs

When Coach Jones, Radio, and Coach Honeycutt eat burgers in the office, Coach Jones opens his burger box and eats the burger. After Coach Honeycutt gives Radio his drink, Jones's burger box is closed. He opens it, with a fresh burger inside, and eats it.

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Quotes

Waitress: You want strawberry pie or apple pie?
Radio: I wan' both!

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Crazy Credits

During the end credits, clips show the real James Robert 'Radio' Kennedy at Hanna High School football games in the present day.

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Tracy Morgan/Demi Lovato (2015)

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Soundtracks

China Grove
(1973)
Written by Tom Johnston
Performed by The Doobie Brothers
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.
By arrangement with Warner Strategic Marketing

User Reviews

Almost Too Good To Be True

This was unusual: a modern-day film which was ultra-nice. In fact, it was so nice it bordered on being too hard to believe in parts. As I watching this based-on-a-real-life story, I was thinking, "nobody is this nice, this tolerant." Mainly, I was referring to Ed Harris' role as "Coach Jones." I think they went a little overboard on his character, but that's better than the reverse: showing him worse than what he was in real life. Odd to see Harris playing the role, too, since he has a long resume of playing nasty, profane characters.

Anyway, I never complain about a nice, feel-good film, and it is nice to see a bunch of well- meaning, kind people. Those folks direct their friendship, love and compassion to "James Kennedy," better known as "Radio," a mentally slow high school kid played by Cuba Gooding Jr. The story takes place in the mid 1970s in South Carolina. Gooding does a nice job with the role, too. However, like Sean Penn's role of a mentally-challenged man in "I Am Sam," an hour-and-a-half of a character like this is plenty. After that, the loudness of those guys gets tiresome to hear.

Note: It was interesting in one of the documentaries on this DVD to find out that, in real life, in took years for "Radio" to make his transformation, not months as shown in the film.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 October 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Radio

Filming Locations:

South Carolina, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$13,303,724, 26 October 2003

Gross USA:

$52,333,738

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$53,293,628

Company Credits

Production Co:

Revolution Studios, Tollin/Robbins Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1