Radio

Play trailer

Radio

PG

2003

1h 49m

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

34%

Tomatometer

119 Reviews

79%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

In a racially divided town, coach Jones (Ed Harris) spots a mentally disabled African-American student named Radio (Cuba Gooding Jr.) near his practice field and is inspired to befriend him. Soon, Radio is Jones' loyal assistant, and principal Daniels (Alfre Woodard) happily notes that Radio's self-confidence is skyrocketing. But things start to sour when Jones begins taking guff from fans who feel that his devotion to Radio is getting in the way of the team's quest for a championship.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

The story is heavy on syrupy uplift and turns Radio into a saint/cuddly pet.

Read Critics Reviews

David Germain

Associated Press

11/12/2018

Gooding and Harris' characters are too pure and high-minded to exist in the real world. Yet the small-town sense of community and compassion they evoke is so goodhearted, the movie manages an amiable, if fleeting, rise in spirits.

Go to Full Review

Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

12/28/2010

4/5

Lesson of kindness permeates inspiring true story.

Go to Full Review

Ed Park

Village Voice

10/28/2003

Based-on- a-true-story kitschfest.

Go to Full Review

Micheal Compton

Bowling Green Daily News

11/15/2019

It's a film that has good intentions, [but] it's just unable to deliver, mainly because Gooding is never believable.

Go to Full Review

Kaleem Aftab

The List

04/18/2019

2/5

This is a case of cinema killing the radio star.

Go to Full Review

Joel Siegel

Good Morning America

01/05/2018

C+

Leave it to Hollywood to make a movie called Radio that would play better on TV.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Vincent F

@VF128690 4d

This movie is inspiring and fun filled. You can’t help but smile and damn near shed a tear any time you see people coming around to Radio throughout the course of the movie. The critics are hateful people who have nothing better to do with their lives than to just shit on good movies. Cuba Gooding Jr isn’t the best actor, not by a long shot, but he was believable enough in this movie to be a mentally challenged man. The one thing that is really unbelievable in rural, 1970’s South Carolina is that they didn’t have whites only and "colored" restaurants and Radio was allowed to hang out with Coach Jones everywhere. Other than that, I love this movie and will always watch it when I can.

See more

guglielmo d

@guglielmo Jan 21

Yet another reason to distain the so-called critics on this site! I have absolutely no idea why they get so much credit I've seen way more movies than most of them.. I think I'm around 5000/6000 movies by now if not more, there used to be times I watched 6 movies a day on VHS with two recorders being able to rewind and watch at the same time. And 26 years or so I got my first unlimited movie theatre card, being able to watch as many movies as I wanted every day for months for free... I watched 3 to 4 in the cinema. Anyway this movie is Great! Not at all bad! Very very underrated! We need more of this and Cuba is a great actor such a pity of his personal life antics.

See more

Nicholas t

@nicktalbert2025 Jan 4

Radio best drama movie

See more

Nicolás Antonio H

@Nicolas190 Dec 30

Le doy cinco estrellas porque es una película que te deja lecciones que es divertida chistosa en momentos pero en general buena película la recomiendo 100%

See more

Ben V

@Benny-V Dec 17

The movie is really good. In the middle to the end of the movie I cried. This is actually based on a true story of James "Radio" Kennedy. This is a must see it will make you laugh and it will make you nonstop cry. Rest in peace Radio.

See more

Mitchell S

@Mitchstur Aug 14

It's a feel good movie that illustrates how the world should be. Cuba Gooding, Jr. proves a superb actor, being able to play a mentally disabled person so well!

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Michael Tollin

Director

Cuba Gooding Jr.

Radio

Ed Harris

Harold Jones

Alfre Woodard

Principal Daniels

S. Epatha Merkerson

Maggie

Brent Sexton

Honeycutt

Glory Road

55%

81%

Glory Road

Watchlist

Kart Racer

40%

61%

Kart Racer

Watchlist

Believe in Me

60%

74%

Believe in Me

Watchlist

October Sky

90%

88%

October Sky

Watchlist

Pride

47%

72%

Pride

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Rotten Tomatoes Radio at Comic-Con

SXSW: Short Reviews of "The King," "The OH in Ohio," "LOL," and "Maxed Out"

Wahlberg Ready to Soar With the Eagles

View more photos

Synopsis

In a racially divided town, coach Jones (Ed Harris) spots a mentally disabled African-American student named Radio (Cuba Gooding Jr.) near his practice field and is inspired to befriend him. Soon, Radio is Jones' loyal assistant, and principal Daniels (Alfre Woodard) happily notes that Radio's self-confidence is skyrocketing. But things start to sour when Jones begins taking guff from fans who feel that his devotion to Radio is getting in the way of the team's quest for a championship.

Director: Michael Tollin
Producer: Michael Tollin, Brian Robbins, Herb Gains
Screenwriter: Mike Rich
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Production Co: Revolution Studios
Rating: PG (Thematic Elements|Mild Language)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 24, 2003, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 25, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA): $52.3M
Runtime: 1h 49m
Sound Mix: Surround, DTS, SDDS, Dolby Digital

Most Popular at Home Now