Radio Flyer (1992)

	Directed by: Richard Donner	COUNTRY USA GENRE Drama/Fantasy NORWEGIAN TITLE Flukt fra virkeligheten RUNNING TIME 114 minutes
	Produced by: Lauren Schuler-Donner
	Written by: David Mickey Evans

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Mary Marshall	Lorraine Bracco
Officer Jim Daugherty	John Heard	-
Michael "Mike" Marshall	Elijah Wood
Robert "Bobby" Marshall	Joseph Mazzello
Jack "The King" MacKenzie	Adam Baldwin
Geronimo Bill	Ben Johnson	-
Ferdie	Thomas Ian Nicholas	-
Older Mike / Narrator	Tom Hanks	-

Review

Magic realism, heart-wrenching domestic drama, and deep brotherly love are blended to mesmerizing effect in this overlooked gem from 1992. Two of the most talented child actors of the era, Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazzello, play the brothers Mike and Bobby who together with their loving mother Mary (Lorraine Bracco) relocate from New Jersey to California looking for a fresh start after being abandoned by their father. When Mary finds new love in Jack "The King" MacKenzie (Adam Baldwin), the boys' childhood goes from happy-go-lucky to filled with drunken beatings, particularly for the daydreaming kid brother Bobby.

Veteran director Richard Donner, who came aboard the project after the initial production was halted, brings several clever narrative touches that elevate David Mickey Evans' powerful script, and does an amazing job capturing his two prodigious stars in free flow. As we follow the brothers around on their roaming adventures, Radio Flyer vividly transports you back to 1960s small-town America with imagination and detail. Of course, all their carefreeness gradually becomes contrasted with another familiar trait of this period: child abuse and corporal punishment. There is a special poignancy to the escape that little Bobby plans – one that may resonate sharply with fellow survivors of alcoholic parents and/or domestic violence. There's a delicate ambiguity in the aforementioned magic realism that Bobby's plan entails: for a child in his situation, this is the only form of escape available. It's up to the viewer to interpret the outcome, whether it's an escape into fantasy or self-destruction. Either way, it represents the ultimate solution to his impossible situation: a scruff-of-the-neck, coming-of-age decision that illustrates the boys' premature loss of innocence.

With beautiful cinematography by László Kovács, a fine score by Hans Zimmer, and solid supporting work by Bracco and Baldwin – the latter in a challenging part that relies solely on his ominous physical presence – Radio Flyer is an emotional roller-coaster and sledgehammer of a film that deserves a recognition it never received.