Review of Radio Days (1987) by Hatem A — 11 Apr 2014

4.0/4.0.

"Radio Days" is a beautiful, nostalgic piece of work by writer-director Woody Allen that is still original by today's standards and remains one of Allen's best works. The main protagonist here is radio and even for viewers (like myself) who weren't alive during the pre-TV days, you will feel like you want to go back to those days. The movie is narrated by Allen (who doesn't appear) as Joe, a Jewish American who explains how his childhood in 1930s Rockaway Beach, Queens centered on radio. The young Joe is played by Seth Green with the movie mixing memories of his childhood and family (linked to radio) with some urban legends of radio stars. There is no real plot here; the movie is a series of vignettes about radio. The urban legends are very interesting and probably more intriguing than the bits involving Joe (that are nonetheless very good) but that doesn't matter much.

The movie grabs your attention from the first scene (where house burglars answer a phone while stealing and win big on a radio trivia show) and doesn't let go. The central character in the radio realm that the story constantly gravitates towards is Sally White (Mia Farrow) who we follow from her days as a cigarette girl to her rise to an A-list radio star. In the bits involving Joe, a key character is played by another Allen regular Dianne Wiest as his aunt Bea who is on a quest to find Mr. Right. There is also a very interesting contrast between life in Rockaway Beach (where Joe's family get together around the radio, despite their differences, and live some fantasies) and the glitz and glamour of Manhattan (the setting for the urban legends). "Radio Days" will stay with you long after you have seen and makes one reminisce of times that are long before most of us today came into existence when life and its pleasures were far simpler. It is such a feel-good movie. Nominated for 2 Oscars: Art Direction, Original Screenplay.