A sweet and clever combination of anecdotes and autobiography, Radio Days draws heavily on Woody Allen's childhood. Fittingly, the unfolding episodes are woven together by music--lovely hits of the 1940s like "In the Mood" and "That Old Feeling." Some episodes are built around radio itself (like the burglars who answer the phone in a house they're burgling and win a radio contest), and others center on the life of a young Jewish boy (Seth Green, clearly playing a version of Allen himself as a child). Though light in tone, Radio Days is an ambitious re-creation not simply of an era, but of radio itself. Nowadays radio is little more than a way to sell pop tunes, but it used to transmit dreams; watching this movie, you get a taste of how inspiring this simpler medium could be. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Rating:
Summary: RADIO DAYS (ORION PICTURES/1987)
Comment: REVIEW: "I love old radio stories." Woody Allen narrates over a background musical number called "Let's All Sing Like The Birdies Sing", "I've collected them down through the years like a hobby." And so begins this magical trip through the director's childhood before the advent of television shows when the radio was king, big bands and crooners were the superstars of the day, and the United States was hot on the heels of entering World War II. Through his expert lens we get to meet a vast assortment of quirky characters like Woody's young alter-ego Joe (played by future T.V./"AUSTIN POWERS" star Seth Green), his bickering but loving mother and father (Julie Kavner and Michael Tucker), his fish-loving Uncle Abe (Josh Mostel), and his Aunt Bea (Dianne Wiest) who is continually searching for the perfect husband. On the opposite end of the broadcast spectrum Allen zeroes in on those radio personalities who brightened up (or in the case of Orson Welles' "WAR OF THE WORLDS" program: disrupted) the day-to-day routine of their listeners. No matter if its the adulterous couple who host the "BREAKFAST WITH IRENE AND ROGER" show; the short, bald-headed guy who plays the All-American hero "THE MASKED AVENGER" (Wallace Shawn); to the stars-in-her-eyes cigarette girl (Mia Farrow) with the horrific Brooklyn accent who will do anything to get on the radio: all of these people end up in a series of vignettes that are alternately hilarious and poignant with life. For certain Allen outdoes himself here: on a technical level the film just looks fantastic, on an emotional level it soars with a lot of heart and a deep-set love of humanity, and on an acting level it is nothing short of perfection. "RADIO DAYS" is quite simply one of his best films. ANOTHER BIG PLUS: a soundtrack filled with wall-to-wall '40's greats like Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Carmen Miranda, Tommy Dorsey, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Duke Ellington. HARSH LANGUAGE: about 14 words (mostly where God/Jesus' name is used as a by-word). VIOLENCE: 1 scene where a mobster kills a nightclub owner, and a few instances where young Joe gets smacked about by his father and mother (and a Rabbi) for his youthful shenanigans. NUDITY/SEXUAL REFERENCES: about 6 instances involving an anatomically enhanced snowman, one memorable show-and-tell scene in Joe's classroom, a rooftop "Peeping Tom" episode involving Joe and his friends, and other such minor occurences. DRUG REFERENCES: a few scenes of beer and champagne drinking and cigarette smoking.


THE MORAL COMPASS: Woody Allen has made a variety of films throughout his career: intellectual comedies, whacked-out farces, existential dramas, biographical homages, whimsical fantasies. But long after he has gone on to meet his Maker, and the dust has settled on his legacy: I think that "RADIO DAYS" will be the most fondly remembered and enjoyed of all his movies. Just watching the finale (involving a terrible incident that has every American glued to the wireless, and a New Year's Eve party on the roof of a posh restaurant) is testament enough to his genius as a director and as a screenwriter. There is no real harsh language to speak of (although the use of God/Jesus' name as a by-word in several scenes will no doubt offend Christian believers), only a smattering of violence, one scene of partial nudity, and a few risque moments that are laugh-out-loud funny. Thus the film would probably earn a mild CAUTIONARY rating for its content.


ACADEMY AWARD NOMINTAIONS: Best Original Screenplay (Woody Allen), Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (Santo Loquasto, Carol Joffe, Leslie Bloom, George DeTitta, Jr.)

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Radio Days
Comment: I've always enjoyed Woody Allen movies,especially with Mia Farrow. He represents New York and all it's eccentricities. The Radio Days c.d. is a little diversion in these difficult times.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Cinematic radio
Comment: "Radio Days" is, I think, one of Allen's best films. It tones down on the the sometimes annoying slapstick of his earliest films without completely eliminating it (for example, the scene with the rabbi in which the young Woody gets slapped by all and sundry). It masterfully manages to keep the viewer's attention even though the film is a series of vignettes rather than a plotted narrative. It evokes a sense of nostalgia and love for the everyday aspects of family life--it's the rare viewer who walks away without genuinely liking Aunt Bea, the Carmen Miranda-dancing cousin, Woody and his parents, and the rest of the clan. Finally, the film is an artistic tour de force in that it manages to capture a radio-like quality cinematically. The vignettes are like the radio pieces they celebrate: short, dramatic, funny, poignant, sometimes hammy and over-dramatic (intentionally, by the way), sometimes seemingly spontaneous and fresh. It's really quite remarkable.

What intrigues me about a film like "Radio Days"--or Fellini's "Amarcord," which Allen claims (unbelievably) wasn't an inspiration for his own film--is how intensely the evocation of a "simpler" past rings with audiences (including me). The past, after all, was never as simple or innocent as nostalgia makes it, and most of us intellectually realize this. So what do we find so appealing about such obviously false depictions? Is it escapism? A longing for lost innocence? A wish to connect with something that might've been but wasn't? I dunno. But I'm glad that there are films like "Radio Days" to fill that need, however we explain it, to be nostalgic.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Woody Allen's Wistful Trip Down Memory Lane
Comment: Woody Allen's cinematic love song to his Brooklyn childhood, "Radio Days" is also, perhaps, his most affectionate and heartfelt film. Set in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Rockaway, "Radio Days" unfolds as a series of nostalgic vignettes encompassing Allen's fictional family, their eccentric neighborhood, and the colorful radio personalities who vied with an unfolding world war for dominance of the airwaves.

Although Allen doesn't appear in the film himself, he provides the voice-over narration, with a young Seth Green ably portraying the pre-adolescent comic as a fun-loving, ornery, ordinary kid. As his constantly battling parents, Julie Kavner and Michael Tucker are pitch perfect, with Laine Kazan and Josh Mostel equally convincing as Kavner's sister and brother-in-law, all residing within the same house. Also living in the house are the grandparents, and the fortyish, maiden aunt, played with touching sweetness by Dianne Weist. There are times when the performances come very close to stereotype but all the actors carefully avoid crossing the line and are genuinely likable and amusing.

The actors playing the radio performers are also excellent, most especially Mia Farrow in a very funny turn as a squeaky-voiced airhead who, by a combination of luck and coincidence (and diction lessons) becomes a Broadway gossip maven and a radio star in her own right. Wallace Shawn shines briefly in the incongruous role of "The Masked Avenger", while Kitty Carlisle Hart, Danny Aiello, Larry David, Tony Roberts, and Jeff Daniels show up in cameo roles. In the final, New Year's Eve scene, Diane Keaton sings as beautifully as she looks, warbling "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" as 1942 becomes 1943.

In fact, there are a number of great songs of the era that are well-repesented in this film and, although it isn't a musical, "Radio Days" has some of the same type of nostalgic charm as "Meet Me in Saint Louis". Production designer Santo Loquasto and cinematographer Carlo di Palma have done an outstanding job of recreating a specific time and place, and Woody Allen, himself, has created one of his most appealing works that ranks up there with "Manhattan", "Hannah and Her Sisters", and "Annie Hall" as being his very best.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Allen's Best Work of Art Ever!
Comment: In my humble opinion, this is Allens best work ever. To fully understand this movie, you've got to have a really good sense of humor and be able to laugh at the weird social dynamics that exist in so many extended families, especially those who live under the same roof. Allens talent for portraying the dark and ironic side of life really shows in this gem. There are far too many good scenes in Radio Days for me to pick a favorite. Simply put, if you enjoy laughing at the tumultuous world of a ten year old mixed with semi-dysfunctional marriages and an "old-maid-to-be", you'll love this film.

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