Radio Flyer

Director: Richard Donner

Overview

Two brothers are the victims of their widowed mother's violent drunkard husband who spares no rod with the youngest brother. Reverting to a world of make-believe, they imagine that their Radio Flyer wagon can fly and that in it they can escape their tormenting stepfather. This film deals in an almost make-believe manner with the serious issue of child abuse. It is narrated by Tom Hanks.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/12/2004
UPC:	0043396067103
Original Release:	1992
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Sony Pictures
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Time:	1:53:00
Sales rank:	17,981

Special Features

Closed Caption; [None specified]

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Elijah Wood	Mike
Joseph Mazzello	Bobby
Lorraine Bracco	Mary
John Heard	Daugherty
Adam Baldwin	The King
Ben Johnson	Geronimo Bill
Tom Hanks	Older Mike
Sean Baca	Young Fisher
Robert Munic	Older Fisher
Daniel Bieber	2nd Boy
Mike Fenton	Actor
Adam Hendershott	1st Boy
Stephen Kahan	Coffee Shop Manager
Valorie Massalas	Actor
Scott Lloyd Nimerfro	Golfer
Rhea Perlman	Actor
Reye Reed	Restaurant Patron
Judy Taylor	Actor
Thomas Ian Nicholas	Ferdie
Isaac Ocampo	Jorge Hernandez
Kaylan Romero	Jesus Hernandez
T.J. Evans	Big Raymond
Victor di Mattia	Little Raymond
Coleby Lombardo	1st Fisher Friend
Mike Simmrin	2nd Fisher Friend
Lennard Camarillo	4th Fisher Friend
Lois Foraker	Aunt
William J. Bonnel	Uncle
Henry LaPlante	Priest
Steven Anthony Jones	Postman
Paul Tuerpé	Market Cashier
Susan Gale Linn	Waitress at Coffee Shop
Dawan Scott	Bigfoot
James Oliver	Gas Station Attendant
Michael Maiello	Gas Station Patron
Hattie Schwartzberg	1st Ticket Taker
Joan Hyman	2nd Ticket Taker
John Mazzello	School Boy
Hannah Wood	School Girl
James W. Gavin	Pilot
Elden Ratliff	3rd Fisher Friend
Abraham Verduzco	Carlos Hernandez
Garette Ratliff Henson	Chad

Technical Credits

Richard Donner	Director
Richard Alexander	Musical Direction/Supervision
Stuart Baird	Editor
Rick Bieber	Producer
Alexander B. Collett	Associate Producer
Peter Donen	Special Effects
Michael Douglas	Producer
David Mickey Evans	Producer,Screenwriter
Sherry Fadely	Associate Producer
Robert Fernandez	Musical Direction/Supervision
April Ferry	Costumes/Costume Designer
James M. Halty	Stunts
Ronald Judkins	Sound/Sound Designer
David F. Klassen	Art Director
Laszlo Kovacs	Cinematographer
Peter McAlevey	Producer
Dallas Puett	Editor
J. Michael Riva	Production Designer
Mic Rodgers	Stunts
Lauren Shuler Donner	Producer
Richard Solomon	Producer
Michael Taylor	Set Decoration/Design
Harry Tugend	Co-producer
Jennie Lew Tugend	Producer
Jim Van Wyck	Co-producer
Hans Zimmer	Score Composer

Scene Index

Side #1 --
1. Start [6:13]
2. A Long Road Ahead [2:06]
3. Geronimo Bill [4:02]
4. The King [3:42]
5. Sold [4:38]
6. The Fort [3:16]
7. The Legend [4:23]
8. Expedition [3:54]
9. Late Nights [4:01]
10. The Answer [5:10]
11. The Wishing Spot [3:52]
12. Recycling [3:20]
13. Bigfoot? [5:34]
14. Magic Spell [3:19]
15. By Design [1:13]
16. Touchdown [3:56]
17. "It Won't Be Long." [4:45]
18. Even Worse [3:21]
19. The Idea [4:39]
20. On the 7th Day [2:56]
21. Thieves [3:22]
22. That Bad Feeling [2:46]
23. The Day [2:02]
24. "Fill 'er Up." [2:04]
25. Dear Mom [3:24]
26. "He's Safe." [4:10]
27. Love Bobby [7:13]
28. A Flyer [1:28]

Menu

Side #1 --
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      Subtitles: English
      Subtitles: Japanese
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Editorial Reviews

Though at times falling into the familiar trappings of over-sentimentalized family melodrama, Richard Donner's sensitive tale of a childhood marred by abuse is ultimately redeemed by Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazzello's fine performances and Donner's symbolic handling of the material. It goes without question that child abuse is a difficult topic to present to an audience, though with screenwriter David Mickey Evans' decision to filter it through the innocent eyes of children, and director Donner's lens following cue appropriately, the film successfully conveys the trauma of abuse from a cinematically ideal perspective. Though a less established director may not have the skill to carry off the story with this approach, Donner's ability to extract skillful performances from his youthful actors provides the film with the precise performances it needs to succeed. Though never seen directly, Adam Baldwin's performance as the menacing head of the household who demands to be addressed as "the King" provides a faceless nightmare of a monster more threatening than any comic-book creature, and Lorraine Bracco's performance as a mother who refuses to see his atrocities is in turns frustrating and sympathetic. With an open-ended coda that offers no clear answers, the film remains true to its childlike sense of wonder and discovery. The fact the viewer is never given a clear indication as to the ultimate fate of the sibling so desperate to escape his troubled home safeguards the possibility of his victory in an obscure, endearing manner.

All Movie Guide - Jason Buchanan