Radio

Cuba Gooding Jr. may have an Oscar and seems like a nice enough guy, but he is not the kind of actor ready to tackle the difficult role of a mentally challenged person. And there lies the main problem with Radio. Its a film that has good intentions, its just unable to deliver, mainly because Gooding is never believable. Inspired by a true story, Radio centers around the relationship between Harold Jones (Ed Harris), a prominent South Carolina football coach, and the mentally challenged man nicknamed Radio (Gooding).At first, Jones has Radio help with practices. But as the relationship strengthens, Jones begins to tutor Radio and help Radio grow as a person. This new relationship draws some criticism from some people including Frank Clay (Chris Mulkey), a wealthy businessman more concerned with wins and losses. One of the pleasant surprises in Radio is the fact that Mike Richs screenplay chooses to ignore the obvious Rocky-like sports cliches and actually develops into a movie about relationships. But Rich does have a tendency to over dramatize the story, especially by choosing to hide Jones motives until he can exploit it during an overly sappy scene between Jones and his estranged daughter. Harris is such a good actor, its no surprise that he delivers another solid performance. I was really interested in his character, and that was largely because of Harris. Mulkey is a little predictable and Alfre Woodard as the schools principal and Debra Winger as Jones wife are basically afterthoughts in their respective roles. But all fare better than Gooding, who is in way over his head. Some actors, like Leonardo DiCaprio in Whats Eating Gilbert Grape?, are able to morph themselves in the role and make you forget about the actor playing the role. There wasnt one moment in Radio where I believed Gooding as the character instead, I saw Gooding trying to play a mentally challenged character. It was like watching Rod Tidwell with bad teeth. It also doesnt help that Radio ends with footage of the real-life Radio. That footage is not only the films best moment, it also accentuates the fact that Gooding never captures the character he is trying to portray. I give Gooding credit for trying, but I think its time he went back to something a little more in his league Snow Dogs 2, perhaps? Hey Hollywood! Think youre getting away with that next big-name feel-good movie? Think again, Jack, cuz sportswriter/movie reviewer Micheal Compton just aint havin it! But, if you wanna play with the big dogs, e-mail him at mcompton@bgdailynews.com and see where it gets ya! (By the way, if you just want to comment on his reviews, you can e-mail that same address.)