‘Radio’ is sweet, ‘Mystic’ is powerful

‘Radio’ is heartwarming

“Radio” is a classic Hollywood effort at real family values

entertainment. It’s based on a true story from a small town in South

Carolina. It crosses racial lines in a very positive way and is

politically correct in all areas. While it cannot shake the feel of a

made-for-TV movie, it still rises above its own limitations with a

fine screenplay and A-list acting by its principal characters.

Cuba Gooding Jr. makes the most of a difficult role as a mentally

disabled young man whose single mom is a hard-working nurse at a

local hospital. He is kind-hearted and without guile, and he doesn’t

have a clue about the casual cruelty one teenager can inflict on

another. It’s not much of a stretch to believe that high school jocks

would ruthlessly tease the simple-minded man whose greatest pleasure

is listening to the beloved radio that gives him his nickname. The

bullying tactics of the healthy, normal boys against the handicapped

kid is hurtful and sadly believable.

Ed Harris is excellent as the saintly coach Jones, who uncovers

the mean streak in his star athletes. He decides to intervene in a

serious way to help Radio advance his life while correcting the evil

ways of his heartless football and basketball players.

While the plot sounds corny, it moves forward in a way that

remains true to its realistic roots. There is no final “Big Game”

ending that would be expected in this genre. There are many

outstanding sports scenes with some bone-crunching hits on screen.

But they are used as exclamation points in telling Radio’s personal

story. The winning and losing games of the Hanna High School teams

reflect the practical hopes and disappointments inherent in everyday

life.

Radio makes mistakes and exhibits inappropriate behavior

consistent with his handicap. The appearance of the real coach Jones

and the real Radio during the final credits further validates the

heartwarming story that is an ongoing reality in the life of the

people living in Anderson, S.C.

It may not be an Oscar nominee, but see it if you fancy something

sweet, genuine and warm-hearted.

* JOHN DEPKO is a Costa Mesa resident and a senior investigator

for the Orange County public defender’s office.

‘Mystic River’ is meditation on revenge

Director Clint Eastwood’s 24th film, “Mystic River,” is a

meditation on the nature of loyalty, violence, revenge and

forgiveness.

It is a powerful and painful film that features a remarkable cast

led by Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Laura Linney, Kevin Bacon, Laurence

Fishburne and Marcia Gay Harden.

“Mystic River,” based on the novel by Dennis Lehane as adapted by

Brian Hegeland (“L.A. Confidential”), tells the story of three

childhood friends in an Irish neighborhood of Boston whose lives take

starkly different paths when one of them is captured by a child

molester. Eventually, the characters toil in their adult lives, all

of them affected by the incident of many years before.

The three boys Jimmy (Penn), an ex-convict who now runs the corner

liquor store; Dave (Robbins), who is quasi-employed; and Sean

(Bacon), a homicide detective, are all married now, though Sean’s

wife has left him while pregnant with their first child. The cast is

rounded out by Fishburne as Bacon’s partner “Whitey,” Linney as

Jimmy’s second wife “Anabeth,” and Harden as Dave’s suffering wife

“Celeste.” Sean’s wife is off-screen and only visible when she makes

peculiar phone calls to him and refuses to speak.

The story is set in motion by the brutal murder of Jimmy’s

daughter Katie (Emmy Rossum). She was in love with the eldest son,

Brendan (Thomas Guiry), of the local sordid family. Katie’s and

Brendan’s affections are clearly on the level of puppy love. They

plan an elaborate future together away from their Boston enclave.

When Katie is found murdered, Sean and Whitey are assigned to the

case. Meanwhile, Jimmy launches his own investigation using his own

street connections to find the murderer.

While a lesser film, actors and script might have reduced the

subject matter to a casual “who done it,” “Mystic River” film

painfully explores the process of choices and the repercussions each

has on our lives. Each character is haunted by the effects of their

past choices, Jimmy’s criminal past, Dave’s unexplored and untreated

trauma, and Sean’s marital woes.

The film does not focus on the resolution of any particular plot

point. Instead, the talented cast leads us on a journey of partial

resolution of each character’s decisions, commencing from that

fateful day when one of them was abducted.

While the entire cast is strong, the bravura performances are

turned in by Linney, Robbins and Penn. Each of these actors truly

takes their art to another level. Linney’s monologue on the nature of

loyalty, love and vengeance ranks with Lady Macbeth’s soliloquies in

shear brutality, pathos and love.

Eastwood, an American icon if there is one, has made a truly

American film: from the opening montages evoking Boston, baseball,

Norman Rockwell’s “Homecoming” and the subtle but impressive use of

jazz music (a score composed in part by Eastwood and his son Kyle),

“Mystic River” evokes the ideals of rebirth and resolution that have

driven many to these shores and beyond.

* ROB OROZCO is an attorney who lives in Newport Beach with his

wife and two cats.