Radio Flyer Movie

Movie Review: Radio Flyer Movie

The time is 1969 and two brothers; Bobby (Joseph Mazzello) and Mike (Elijah Wood) have just moved from back east with their recently divorced mom (Lorraine Bracco) to a spacious suburban section of Northern California.

As the boys settle into their new surroundings, they encounter new adventures. For example, when they discover a tool shed and open the door, they discover an old turtle that lives there. And, of course, the new neighborhood has your typical bullies that take joy in harassing the new kids, but Mike and Bobby have their trusty German shepherd to even the score! Regardless, in the middle of their new life is their red Radio Flyer wagon. And their imaginations soar plotting the day they can use a big hill near the airport and experience flying through the air. The initiator of these dreams is a legend about a boy named Fisher that did just such a thing years ago, only he used his bicycle instead.

The music score keeps pace with the action and the late-afternoon sun shines in a reminiscent way. Yet, for all that Radio Flyer attributes to the magic that is childhood; a foreboding sense of darkness develops. The boys' mother quickly remarries; her husband (Adam Baldwin) is a sadistic, beer-swilling roughneck. As the story unfolds, we learn that, in his drunken stupor, he's been beating Bobby, causing huge welts all over his back. No matter, Bobby is unwilling to tell his mother and makes Mike swear to keep the awful truth from mom as well.

Throughout the Radio Flyer Movie, the viewer is not allowed to see the stepfather's face. Instead, he appears as a hand reaching into the fridge for more beer or as a voice growling with rage and threats. It appears Radio Flyer wants us to see the stepfather through Bobby's eyes as less than human, more than as a menacing force. At the same time, the movie suggests that he escapes the intolerable situation through denial and often withdraws into a world of fantasy.

At times we find the camera at a distance from the boys and, in so doing, we are left with the impression we are eavesdropping on them. Elijah Wood, in particular, holds the viewers through his inquisitive face; his eyes shine like liquid marbles. With flashes of sensitivity, contrasting its light and dark sides, Radio Flyer evokes something bordering on schizophrenia. It both lulls you into a relaxed state, to only then startle you wide awake. It early on influences you to anguish over the lost innocence of childhood, and then moves you to cheering for revenge on the stepfather.

The movie comes close to the position that a child can escape a hellish home life through his fantasies. As if to reinforce this belief, toward the end of the movie, Bobby climbs into his Radio Flyer wagon that has been “modified” and really flies! Or does he? Bobby's ''victory'' appears so literal that the movie seems to be saying that being a battered child isn't so bad, as long as you get to escape into an alternate dream world.

No matter the interpretation of what Radio Flyer movie may be saying, it does a fine job of gently exposing the experience some children have at the hands of grownups and how they deal with it. In the end, the two boys slowly transform their lives, for better or worse, into an adventure. This is a great portrait of how children dissociate from reality.

As is often the case, adults forget what it was like to see the world through a child’s eyes. One needs to look at this movie with the eyes of a child. If you can do that, you will be able to see the deep pain these boys live with, even as they genuinely love their mother so much that they want to spare her the pain they are enduring.

The final thought to take away from Radio Flyer is this: Counselors will tell you that they see many children who choose to hold their pain and sufferings inside and never tell anyone for many different reasons. Watch this movie with your child and assure them that it is okay to tell someone what is going on and to not blame yourself for what is happening.

• Actors: Lorraine Bracco, John Heard, Adam Baldwin, Elijah Wood, Joseph Mazzello
• Directors: David M. Evans, Richard Donner
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: July 28, 1998
• Run Time: 114 minutes