The entire time I was watching this movie I had no idea it was based on a true story and that a real, James Robert 'Radio' Kennedy exists. In fact, he's still alive as I write this, and at seventy two years old, still maintains his status as a 'junior' at the T.L. Hanna High School in Anderson, South Carolina. That just brought an entirely different perspective to watching the story, and the closing credits showing him participating with the football team and being actively engaged with the community is both inspiring and tear inducing.

The movie does a fine job of chronicling the way Coach Harold Jones (Ed Harris) took the young man under his wing following an unfortunate prank that members of the high school team played on him. Actually more than a prank, more like physical abuse. By degrees, Coach Jones and his assistant Honeycutt (Brent Sexton) bring the teenager around in a way that not only builds his self esteem, but allows the wider student body of Hanna to accept him as a school hall monitor and a vocal purveyor of school news with his morning PA announcements. We eventually come to learn about the coach's motivation during an emotional heart to heart conversation with his own teenage daughter (Sarah Drew),who along with the coach's wife (Debra Winger),had to often settle for a back seat when it came to Harold's attention.

I haven't seen Cuba Gooding Jr. in very many films, but I thought he did a very credible job in the role of 'Radio'. The nickname derived from the young man's fascination with a desk top radio given to him by the assistant coach, and it stuck. Due to Gooding's youthful appearance, you would never know that he was portraying a teenager at the age of thirty five. That he wasn't nominated in some of the major award categories for his role seems somewhat unfair, though in the same year, while nominated for Best Actor by the Image Award folks, he landed a Worst Actor nomination for roles in something called 'Boat Trip' and 'The Fighting Temptations'. I haven't seen those, so I'll have to reserve judgment.

Anyway, this is a simple story about how love and compassion can change lives, and in quite the intriguing way, how a single life can affect the way others see the world and themselves in relation to a disadvantaged youth. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have high schoolers, especially sports team members, watch the movie and learn how their daily actions can have an impact on a fellow human being forever.

In Tropic Thunder, Robert Downey tells Ben Stiller that he went full retard for a film role and you must never go full retard.

Maybe advice Cuba Gooding Jr should have heeded as he plays a young mentally challenged black man in a South Carolina small town in the mid 1970s, who spends his days pushing a shopping trolley, being fascinated by radios and comes on the radar of High School Sports Coach Jones who spends time with him and gets him to help out at the school and not be an outsider being ignored. He gets adopted as the school's mascot and gains acceptance after some initial resistance from a few of the students.

Radio is based on the true story of Robert 'Radio' Kennedy. Its a formulaic film but has winning performances from Ed Harris, Alfre Woodard and Debra Winger. Cuba's performance divided opinions, although he is an Oscar winning actor, he seemed to be too immersed in the role without giving any other light or shade. Gooding has been criticised for some of his broad comedy films in the past and maybe this was an attempt to address this criticism and re-establish his serious acting credentials.

The film is sentimental and maybe too saccharine and does lack depth as well but you cannot deny it is heartwarming.

"Radio" is a biographical film, though I am sure like most Hollywood pictures they changed the details here and there to make it more cinematic. Regardless, it's very well made and shows us how far we've come.

The story is set in the 1970s at a high school in South Carolina. As the football team practices, a mentally challenged young man nicknamed 'Radio' (Cuba Gooding Jr.) walks by the playing field every day. But Radio isn't very verbal and this was all back in an era when folks didn't associate with disabled people very often. Most mentally challenged and otherwise disabled people were either institutionalized or sent to special schools. Fortunately, things have changed a lot in that department, as mainstreaming is bringing. But in these less inclusive times, some of the kids on the team play a VERY cruel trick on Radio....and Coach Jones (Ed Harris) finds Radio tied up with medical tape in the team's shed. Not surprisingly, Radio is traumatized and runs after the Coach frees him. But Coach Jones is curious about the young man...and over the course of the film he befriends the guy. And, slowly, over time, Radio becomes more verbal and comes out of his shell. This is encouraged not only by his friendship with Coach but also because he is now included with the team...sort of like a coaching assistant.

There are several different problems that develop....as movies MUST have some sort of drama. How much of it is true, I have no idea. But the notion of 'concerned parents' trying to keep Radio away from their kids, sadly, seems realistic for the time. How are this and other issues resolved? See the film.

The film is schmaltzy, feel-good entertainment....and that's okay with me! The acting is terrific---Ed Harris is his usual great acting self and Cuba Gooding Jr. Manages to act like a mentally challenged guy without being over-the-top or insulting. Overall, a wonderful family film...and a look at what it was like back in the not so good old days for disabled people...and a film that offers hope as well.