Radio Days (A- or 3.5/4 stars)
'Radio Days' (written & directed by Woody Allen) is set at the beginning of WWII (Woody would have been 6 at the time). And Woody poignantly narrates to us about how radio influenced his own childhood in the days before TV. Radio was King. The young Allen character is played by Seth Green as 'Joe'. From the NYC of his childhood in the 1930's to a rooftop overlooking Times Square in 1944 ... this coming-of-age story blends the narrator's experiences with his memories & anecdotes, inserting urban legends of the radio 'stars' of the times, & it is told in a series of vignettes.
Even though Joe's Jewish family lives a middle-class existence in Rockaway Beach, Queens, each member during the film finds in radio shows an escape from reality (celebrity gossip, sports, singers, game shows). And for Joe, the action/adventure shows are what inspires him; along with daydreaming about a pretty substitute teacher at his school, movie stars, & WWII. All the while, several other parallel tales are told: from a hopeful radio star named Sally White (Mia Farrow), to Joe's Aunt Bea (Dianne Wiest) & her desperate search for love, to a tragic national story told on the radio about a girl named Polly who fell into a well.
'Radio Days' gives us a wonderful, sentimental look at radio's golden age - all by focusing on a few radio personalities & one average working class family in Rockaway Beach. I loved nearly everything about this film. Woody Allen lends his usual wonderful scenarios/dialogue. It's entertaining. The production values are fantastic (you feel like you're transported back to the 1930's/40's - the houses, clothes, hairstyles, etc.). Ditto that for the 30's/40's music that plays through the film. The performances are great from all. I especially enjoyed Mia Farrow as cigarette girl, Dianne Wiest as Aunt Bea, & Julie Kavner - SO good.
The film is magical. Each vignette offers something very humorous or actually ... quite heartbreaking. I liked hearing Orson Welles' famous 1939 CBS radio broadcast of the War of the Worlds. I loved the characters. Sure, the structure of the film is episodic. The narrative is somewhat formless & rambling. But that's what is kinda special about it. Allen hop scotches around btwn. narration, straight narrative, asides, radio stars, family debacles, etc.. And I loved that Woody provided us a portrait of his own childhood in an alternately funny, yet melancholy time (WWII) ... when radio was the prime use of communication.
Even though Joe's Jewish family lives a middle-class existence in Rockaway Beach, Queens, each member during the film finds in radio shows an escape from reality (celebrity gossip, sports, singers, game shows). And for Joe, the action/adventure shows are what inspires him; along with daydreaming about a pretty substitute teacher at his school, movie stars, & WWII. All the while, several other parallel tales are told: from a hopeful radio star named Sally White (Mia Farrow), to Joe's Aunt Bea (Dianne Wiest) & her desperate search for love, to a tragic national story told on the radio about a girl named Polly who fell into a well.
'Radio Days' gives us a wonderful, sentimental look at radio's golden age - all by focusing on a few radio personalities & one average working class family in Rockaway Beach. I loved nearly everything about this film. Woody Allen lends his usual wonderful scenarios/dialogue. It's entertaining. The production values are fantastic (you feel like you're transported back to the 1930's/40's - the houses, clothes, hairstyles, etc.). Ditto that for the 30's/40's music that plays through the film. The performances are great from all. I especially enjoyed Mia Farrow as cigarette girl, Dianne Wiest as Aunt Bea, & Julie Kavner - SO good.
The film is magical. Each vignette offers something very humorous or actually ... quite heartbreaking. I liked hearing Orson Welles' famous 1939 CBS radio broadcast of the War of the Worlds. I loved the characters. Sure, the structure of the film is episodic. The narrative is somewhat formless & rambling. But that's what is kinda special about it. Allen hop scotches around btwn. narration, straight narrative, asides, radio stars, family debacles, etc.. And I loved that Woody provided us a portrait of his own childhood in an alternately funny, yet melancholy time (WWII) ... when radio was the prime use of communication.