Primal Fear Starring: Cuba Gooding Jr., Ed Harris and Debra Winger Directed by Michael Tollin Release date: Oct. 24 2.5 stars
When actors take on roles of mentally challenged characters they run the risk of either receiving critical praise or looking rather foolish like Sean Penn's over-acting in "I Am Sam." However, Tom Hanks got an Oscar for playing Forrest Gump and critics hyped up Edward Norton for his role in "Primal Fear."
Cuba Gooding Jr. takes his chances by playing the illiterate, mentally challenged man nicknamed "Radio" due to his great interest in radios. Prominent High School football coach Harold Jones (Ed Harris) befriends Radio after some of his students harass him after football practice. Jones takes Radio under his wing and their relationship becomes the inspirational center of a small South Carolina town, while also helping Jones recognize the importance of his wife (Debra Winger) and his daughter.
In all fairness to Gooding Jr., he does not come off nearly as ridiculous as the trailers might suggest. While the performance fails to inspire, he does an admirable job playing the title character. Harris is always good, and he does an excellent job as the football coach, adopting one of the only convincing Southern accents. Most of the supporting cast, especially Winger, use ridiculous accents which hinder the realism of a movie that's based on a true story.
Screenwriter Mike Rich's ("The Rookie") script is a mix bag. "Radio" lacks a sense of pacing, as months sometimes pass in minutes and the movie cuts between basically only three locations. However, Rich's script has a strong ability to tie in the sports aspects with the general story. Director Michael Tollin does a good job by making the football games the most entertaining parts of "Radio."
Despite these successes, "Radio" lacks the ability to get its message across without being schmaltzy. Yet, it's successful because it's not just Hollywood drivel. Those easily swayed by what critics deem cheesy, will probably be reaching for the Kleenex at some points when people discriminate against Radio because of his mental deficiency.
Overall, everyone associated with this purely mediocre and typical inspirational tale comes out avoiding disaster. While "Radio" is not a good movie, surprisingly it proves not to be a bad one either. And that in itself is no small accomplishment.
