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ABOUT THE PRODUCTION |
| This page was created on October 20, 2003
This page was last updated on
October 31, 2003
—Review by Gregg and Jenn Wright
—Review by Mike Furches
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film
—Spiritual Connections
—Forum |
| ABOUT THIS FILM |
Radio is a dramatic and uplifting tale inspired by true events that focus on the
mentoring relationship between a high school football coach (Ed Harris) and
Radio (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) -- who his mother describes as "the same as
everybody else, just a little slower than most" -- and how their unique friendship
ultimately transforms the entrenched attitudes of a small South Carolina town.
James Robert Kennedy (Gooding, Jr.) -- nicknamed 'Radio' because of his
vintage radio collection and his love of music -- is a loner in Anderson, South
Carolina, pushing his ever-present grocery cart up and down the streets. He
speaks to no one and is rarely spoken to, until one day, Coach Harold Jones
(Harris), one of the town's most respected men, and coach of the popular high
school football team, befriends him.
Radio is suspicious at first. But Coach Jones is persistent, even enlisting the help
of Radio's mother (S. Epatha Merkerson). Jones' friends and family are taken
aback as well since, until he met Radio, all his energies were poured exclusively
into football.
Slowly, Coach Jones earns Radio's trust and opens up a new world to him. He
invites Radio to help out at football practice and during games and to sit in on his
classes at school, despite the initial misgivings of Principal Daniels (Alfre
Woodard). He also champions him to the football players, the students and
faculty. Coach Jones' life is also enriched by Radio, from whom he learns to
value friendship and family ties as much as he does coaching football.
Still, there are those in town who believe that Coach Jones' devotion to the
young man is distracting him from his duties as head coach of the football team.
There are several attempts to have Radio barred from the classroom and, after
his mother's untimely death, remanded to a mental-health facility.
Coach Jones valiantly fights off these efforts, but he is finally forced to make a
difficult decision, which will impact both his growing friendship with Radio and his
career as a football coach.
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| ABOUT THE PRODUCTION |
The story of Radio is essentially about a great friendship that develops between
two men who, through their example, touch the hearts and minds of everyone
around them.
In 1996, director/producer Mike Tollin picked up the latest issue of Sports
Illustrated while on a ski vacation and read an article by award-winning writer
Gary Smith entitled "Someone to Lean On." As soon as he was finished, he was
compelled to seek out the rights to the story and begin developing it as a feature
film.
Tollin has always been a passionate sports enthusiast, which provided a
springboard for his early career as a filmmaker. He was nominated for an Oscar®
and received a Peabody Award for his documentary Hank Aaron: Chasing The
Dream. He received several Emmy awards for his documentary work, created
other sports-themed films (Varsity Blues, Hardball) with his partner Brian Robbins
and made his feature film debut with the baseball comedy Summer Catch.
His interest in Gary Smith's article, however, went beyond his immersion into the
world of sports. In 1990, Tollin had led a group of 12 Special Olympians on a trek
up Mt. Kilimanjaro --an expedition that would result in an Emmy Award-winning
film, while opening Tollin's eyes to the remarkable courage and inner strength of
mentally challenged individuals.
Smith's touching and expertly written piece is a portrait of a mentally challenged
man, James Robert Kennedy, nicknamed 'Radio,' who, for more than 40 years,
has been Anderson, South Carolina's most beloved citizen. In the early 1960s,
Kennedy began hanging around the McCants Jr. High athletic field in Anderson,
where he was befriended by the Junior Varsity coach Dennis Patterson and
volunteer assistant coach (and later JV coach) Harold Jones. Soon after, he also
began to visit the Varsity field at T.L. Hanna High School where James Fraser
was then head coach.
Though Radio was extremely shy and inarticulate, the coaches at McCants and
Hanna cultivated a friendship with him. His love of music earned him the
nickname 'Radio' and his love of food helped him overcome his initial timidity -- the
coaches and players initially coaxed him with snacks and Cokes.
One of the coaches who formed a lifelong bond with Radio was Harold Jones,
who along with Patterson, eventually went on to work at Hanna High. Jones
became Hanna's track coach, assistant Varsity football coach and, eventually,
head Varsity football coach in the 1980s. Radio was one of the school's most
avid sports fans and attended most of their events, particularly the football
games. Radio also began to sit in on classes at Hanna as an honorary student, a
practice he continues to this day, winning the admiration and affection of several
generations of students and faculty.
For Smith, a National Magazine Award winner and one of Sports Illustrated's
most celebrated writers, Radio's story affirmed his faith in the bonding power of
sports. "Radio's story reminds you that great things can transpire through sports.
Barriers can be broken down and strong friendships forged."
Interestingly, Smith continues, the competitive world of high school sports is one
of the places that mentally challenged people have found a home in America. In
doing research for his article about Radio, Smith was surprised to discover that in
many schools across the country, men like Radio are welcomed and embraced.
"In a good number of schools, there were similar types of guys with some kind of
disability, and these little towns and their teams invited them in to help out. There
was one guy who would ring a cowbell every time his team got a home run in
baseball. They always found some way to make these men a part of the team."
For director Tollin, Radio's story was filtered through his own personal
experience. The Kilimanjaro trip, he says, changed him forever. "Here we are,
climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, 19,000 feet above sea level with a dozen so-called
'handicapped' people who ended up being the most courageous, most inspiring,
life-affirming individuals we'd ever met."
Radio's life and his effect on the town of Anderson, South Carolina, had similar
resonance. "Ultimately, it's not a story of how the townspeople helped Radio, but
how he enriched their lives," remarks Tollin.
After contacting Smith about the rights to the article, Tollin flew to South Carolina
to meet with the author, Harold Jones and his wife Linda. He later learned that
there had been many other inquiries about securing the rights to Radio's story,
but Tollin had been the only person invited to meet Harold and Linda Jones. After
speaking with him at length, and based on what they knew of his work, Tollin
earned the Jones' approval. "I think they responded to the fact that I didn't intend
to portray any of the characters, Radio included, as idealized human beings, but
rather as men and women with real limitations and how they rise above them."
Once the rights had been secured, Tollin hired screenwriter Mike Rich (Finding
Forrester, The Rookie) and set about transforming the magazine article into a
dramatic motion picture. One of the critical challenges in turning this story into a
movie, according to Tollin, was "to ensure that Radio retained his dignity
throughout, that he always has a source of pride and self-worth and that he was
treated with not just affection, but also respect."
While Radio has been an institution in Anderson for more than 40 years, and had
relationships with several coaches, for dramatic purposes the filmmakers decided
to consolidate the story to a one year period and to focus on Radio's Hanna High
experience, in particular his relationship with Coach Jones.
The story was designed not to be a literal translation of Radio's life, but rather a
dramatically sound depiction of his relationship with the citizens of Anderson,
South Carolina. Radio has been openly embraced by many in the town, though
along the way there were also struggles and tensions, some of which were
incorporated into the screenplay. "It was important to show that the acceptance
of Radio into the community had its setbacks and that some of the initial
trepidations were not, on the face of it, unreasonable. But with time, patience and
an open heart, those barriers were broken down," says Tollin.
The script that emerged is a work of fiction that captures the essence of the
town's connection with Radio and his abiding friendship with Coach Jones. "What
we decided to do," explains Tollin, "was to take a year right in the middle of this
sweeping four decades, and show the convergence of events that led to Radio
becoming an integral part of society in this small town. We intentionally wanted to
be vague about it "because the film is loosely inspired by Radio's story, which
has gone on for so many years and continues to this day. That gives it a timeless
quality and allowed us to focus more on the development of the relationship
between the two central characters. Rather than make a biography, I see Radio
as a story about two very different men who are united by their humanity."
Five years after reading the magazine article, Tollin's passion and dedication to
the story of Radio finally paid off. Revolution Studios founder Joe Roth and one
of his partners, Todd Garner, offered to finance the project. Garner, Revolution's
head of production, thought the lead role would be a perfect fit for Oscar® winner
Cuba Gooding, Jr., with whom he had worked on several other projects. "When
Todd mentioned Cuba as Radio, Brian (Robbins) and I both lit up," Tollin relates.
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| ABOUT THE ACTORS |
CUBA GOODING, JR. (Radio) is one of the most charismatic and captivating
performers on the screen today. His remarkable versatility, combined with the
unique depth he brings to his roles has made him one of the most sought-after
actors of his generation.
Gooding's critically-acclaimed, Academy Award®-winning portrayal of the
extroverted pro football player 'Rod Tidwell' in the smash-hit feature film Jerry
Maguire propelled him to the forefront of the entertainment industry. The role
earned him additional honors, including the Screen Actors Guild Award, the
Chicago Film Critics Award, the Broadcasters Film Critics Award, the Blockbuster
Entertainment Award and the American Comedy Award, all for Best Supporting
Actor. He was also cited with the prestigious ShoWest Award, presented by the
nation's exhibitors, in the same category and received a nomination from the
NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actor.
Prior to Jerry Maguire, Gooding had already established his presence in feature
films with a number of impressive credits. He made his motion picture debut as
the star of John Singleton's searing coming-of-age-drama, Boyz N The Hood, in
1991. He earned rave reviews and an NAACP Image Award nomination for his
portrayal of a 17-year-old high school student in that film. A year later, he was
featured in the Oscar®-nominated film A Few Good Men co-starring Jack
Nicholson, Tom Cruise and Demi Moore. Gooding was honored as the
NATO/ShoWest Newcomer of the Year for his performance.
Gooding segued directly from Jerry Maguire into another critically acclaimed role
in the award-winning As Good as It Gets co-starring Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt
and Greg Kinnear for director James L. Brooks. He then went on to star opposite
Robin Williams in What Dreams May Come, Instinct co-starring Anthony
Hopkins, the action-thriller Chill Factor and the independent thriller A Murder of
Crows co-starring Tom Berenger, on which Gooding also served as producer.
Recently, Gooding starred opposite Robert DeNiro in Men of Honor, the true
story of Carl Brashear, the Navy's first African-American deep-sea salvage
master diver. Gooding also starred in the Jerry Bruckheimer epic film Pearl
Harbor directed by Michael Bay.
Gooding has also appeared lately in the hit comedies Snow Dogs and Rat Race
as well as The Fighting Temptations opposite Beyoncé Knowles.
ED HARRIS (Harold Jones) was recently nominated for an Academy Award® for
Best Supporting Actor and a Golden Globe for his role opposite Meryl Streep in
The Hours, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Michael Cunningham.
Harris received the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor and
was nominated for both an Academy Award® and a Golden Globe for his role as
Gene Kranz in Apollo 13.
He earned an Academy Award® Best Actor nomination for Pollock, his acclaimed
directorial debut, in which he starred as the pioneering abstract expressionist
Jackson Pollock. The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival,
followed by a North American debut at the Toronto Film festival and the
prestigious Centerpiece slot at the New York Film Festival. Pollock co-starred
Marcia Gay Harden, who won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar® for her
portrayal of Pollock's wife Lee Krasner. The film also featured Harris' wife,
actress Amy Madigan, in the role of Peggy Guggenheim.
Recently, Harris received much praise for his role as mysterious government
agent William Parchet in Ron Howard and Brian Grazer's Academy Award®-
winning A Beautiful Mind. He has also starred opposite Jude Law in Jean-
Jacques Annaud's Enemy at the Gates, opposite Anne Heche in Agnieszka
Holland's The Third Miracle and opposite Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon in
Stepmom for director Chris Columbus. For that performance, together with his
performance in Peter Weir's critically acclaimed The Truman Show, he won the
1998 National Board of Review award for Best Supporting Actor. Harris also won
a Golden Globe Award and received another Oscar® nomination for Best
Supporting Actor for The Truman Show.
Harris is currently starring in the central role in HBO's adaptation of Richard
Russo's best-selling novel Empire Falls. The film's all-star cast includes Paul
Newman, Helen Hunt, Joanne Woodward, Robin Wright Penn and Philip
Seymour Hoffman.
Born in Tenafly, New Jersey, Harris attended Columbia University for two years
and then attended the University of Oklahoma, where he began to study acting.
In 1973, Harris moved to California and entered the California Institute of the
Arts, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.
Harris made his New York stage debut in Sam Shepard's Fool for Love, for
which he earned the 1983 Obie Award for Outstanding Actor.
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| ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS |
MIKE TOLLIN (Director/Producer) is an Academy Award® nominee and
Peabody Award winner for his documentary Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream.
He made his feature film directorial debut with the baseball comedy Summer
Catch starring Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Jessica Biel. Tollin also directed the
award-winning film Hardwood Dreams narrated by Wesley Snipes. He served as
producer on The Show and the hit films Varsity Blues and Hardball starring
Keanu Reeves and Diane Lane -- all of which were directed by his partner Brian
Robbins. Tollin also produced Big Fat Liar starring Frankie Muniz and the
upcoming The Perfect Score, also directed by Robbins.
Tollin has been honored with three Emmy Awards as a director and producer.
He is currently producing several television series including, "I'm With Her" for
ABC, "Smallville," "One Tree Hill" and "What I Like About You" for the WB. He
also served as an executive producer of the HBO comedy "Arli$$" and as
executive producer and co-creator of Nickelodeon's hit shows "All That," "Kenan
and Kel," "Cousin Skeeter" and "The Amanda Show" as well as TNN's sports series
"SlamBall."
A founding member of Children Now and Common Sense Media, Tollin has a
well-established track record of working to positively influence children's lives. He
and partner Brian Robbins have made youth-oriented programming a primary
focus of their work.
MIKE RICH (Written by) was born in Los Angeles but spent the majority of his
childhood growing up in eastern Oregon. He became interested in radio
broadcasting during his high school years and used his on-air abilities to help pay
his college tuition at Oregon State University.
Rich began his news anchor career at KREM-FM in Spokane and worked his
way to KGW in Portland before settling at KINK-FM, also in Portland. It was three
years into that stint that he began dabbling with a screenplay idea that was
sparked by an on-air interview dealing with America's classic authors. The result
was Gus Van Sant's drama Finding Forrester starring Sean Connery. Rich
subsequently wrote the screenplay for the hit baseball drama The Rookie starring
Dennis Quaid. Next up for Rich is another sports-drama, Miracle, starring Kurt
Russell.
Rich lives in Portland with his wife, Grace, and their three children Jessica,
Caitlin and Michael.
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| Continue: |
—Review by Gregg and Jenn Wright
—Review by Mike Furches
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film
—Spiritual Connections
—Forum |
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