Review: Radio Days

As the title suggests, this is Woody Allen’s nostalgic look back at the golden age of radio, as he (in the form of a young Seth Green) grew up in 40s New York. Mia Farrow plays a wannabe radio actress who just doesn’t have the right voice (or accent) for it, Julie Kavner and Michael Tucker play Green’s Jewish parents, Kenneth Mars plays a stern rabbi, and Danny Aiello a not-so mean mob hitman. Gina DeAngelis is amusing as Aiello’s tough mother.

 

Although not one of his more well-known films, I get the feeling that this 1987 film from writer-director Woody Allen (whose best films include “Annie Hall”, “Deconstructing Harry”, and “The Purple Rose of Cairo”) was probably very personal to him. That’s great, but I was looking for a movie, and Woody’s barely given us one. There’s something here, and if Woody (who narrates the film himself) had made a more straightforward single narrative coming-of-age/nostalgia story, he might’ve really come up with something here. Instead he gives us lots of little ‘bits’, and frankly none of them are significant, and few of them are amusing, interesting, or insightful, at least not to me. They’re just not long enough to get interesting. Bear in mind, though, that I’m not what anyone would call a Woody Allen fan, so you might get a little more out of this than I did.

 

A young Seth Green is pretty clever casting as the young Woody surrogate, and there’s a funny bit where Woody’s mother and father and rabbi Kenneth Mars argue over who gets to give him a spanking. I liked that Woody also made a reference to Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” broadcast, albeit a slightly veiled reference. It’s cute how the broadcast/panic gets in the way of some hanky-panky, even funnier is when Mia Farrow’s big break gets interrupted by the attack on Pearl Harbour. My favourite bit is the sad story of a baseballer named Kirby Kyle, who seems to have all the bad luck. That was funny. Otherwise, this plays like an arty, generally dull “Kentucky Fried Movie” with a nostalgic bent.

 

As for the cast, Danny Aiello probably gives the best performance, whilst Mia Farrow is excruciating as she once again adopts the helium-voiced ditzy bullshit that wasn’t convincing in “Broadway Danny Rose” let alone here where she feels a good 20 years too old for her part anyway. Diane Keaton has a great singing cameo, though. I’m not a huge fan of her acting, but she can definitely sing. The talented Tony Roberts and Jeff Daniels are particularly wasted in useless, colourless cameos.

 

I’m sure this is someone’s favourite Woody Allen film, and I can kinda see what he was aiming for here, but this one’s not for me. It’s a portmanteau, but a sloppy, unfocused one that just doesn’t come together. If it had a tighter focus, it could’ve been Woody’s “A Christmas Story”. Instead, it’s all over the place, never stopping long enough anywhere. Pretty flimsy and lousy if you ask me, and I would hope that most Woody Allen fans would also agree that it’s not one of his best. 

 

Rating: D+