Radio Days (1987)

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 Amazon.com

Radio Days

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. November 17, 2008

Cinematic radio

"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. November 17, 2008

Woody Allen's Wistful Trip Down Memory Lane

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. October 8, 2008

Allen's Best Work of Art Ever!

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. September 1, 2008

Wistfully Nostalgic

This has become my favorite Woody Allen film over the years.
It has the right blend of pathos, nostalgia and comedy.
If evokes a bygone era in a manner not unlike "A Christmas Story".
The performances by Woody's "stock troup" are all excellent, especially those of Mia Farrow and Julie Kavner.
The music is excellent (unfortunately the soundtrack album for the film does not contain all the songs.)
The audio/video quality and digital transfer of this DVD are all first-rate.
Essential Woody Allen film.
July 8, 2008

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