Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

Console best movie i've ever seen.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

thinker1691 The year was 1939 and America was in the flux of world wide change. Hitler was in Germany, Roosevelt was in the White House and a New Radio station was inaugurating it's first night on the air-waves. There are a hundred things which could go wrong and after watching this film for just a few minutes, the audience will indeed come to that conclusion. In the mist of growing chaos, personal problems also are thrown in the mix. Mr. Roger Henderson, (Brian Benben) in trying to win back his wife Penny (Mary Masterson) who threatens him with divorce. At the same time, the radio station employees are confronted with murder as several top executives are found dead. Several key characters add to the general mayhem such as General Whalen (Ned Beatty), Billy The Gopher, (Scott Campbell) Michael Lerner (Michael Cross) Zolttan (Christopher Lloyd) Herman Katsenback (Larry Miller), Billy Barty, Bobcat Goldthwait and Robert Walden. Director Mel Smith and writer George Lucas even threw in the Late George Burns. The station is flooded with everything from on stage Key-stone slap-stick, pratfalls, sight gags, verbal innuendos and hilarious vaudeville entertainment. The center of the story are the mysterious murders which are complex and interesting. All in all, the movie is wondrously exciting and musically entertaining. A fun visit to a far-away place where imagination of voice could transport you to anytime and place. Offered to anyone seeking a slice of radio memorabilia. ****

edwagreen The only thing that this inane film has going for it is its pacing. It is done lively and quiet fast and given the nature and how bad the film is, it's appropriate to do it that quickly.This is a definite take-off on the radio period in America.While a radio show goes on, the best part of the action seems to be on the backstage, where a series of murders are taking place, one after the other.Suspicion immediately falls on one of the writers who is on the verge of breaking up with his wife, the show's producer.The beginning showed progress with the problems of script writing presented. With the murders, the film falters quickly and becomes one of amateurish slapstick and all other mayhem and nonsense.The comedy lines are silly. One example is: Woman to man: "Don't you see the star on my dressing room?" His response was: "Does that mean you're Jewish?" Case closed.

blanche-2 If you like the old radio shows, films set in the '30s and mysteries, this should be the film for you. The three things mentioned are favorite things of mine, but alas, I didn't enjoy this movie. The thin plot centers around a Phantom of the Radio (a disembodied voice) who says something sinister over a microphone, and then someone is murdered. Apparently all the people who are murdered worked together at another radio station that was involved in a scandal. One of the writers, Roger Henderson (Brian Benben becomes a suspect. He's the husband - possibly soon to be ex-husband of Penny Henderson (Mary Stuart Masterson) who manages to somehow keep the station going with no scripts and people dying all around her."Radioland Murders" has a crackerjack cast - besides the above, the cast includes Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, Ned Beatty, Harvey Korman, George Burns, Scott Michael Campbell, Brion James, Anne DiSalvo - the list goes on.The radio shows (Lloyd's character is the sound effect man), the commercials and the music are absolutely wonderful. Unfortunately the director kept cutting from those elements to something else - either yelling or slapstick or both. The slapstick was incessant. Some slapstick is funny; constant slapstick becomes annoying. Certainly there are ways to show a chaotic, disorganized radio station without papers flying all over the place every two minutes and everyone getting knocked over and screaming. As far as the murders, they happen so quickly and so soon into the film that it was hard to know whom exactly had bought it.The acting is mostly good except for Benben, who for reasons of his own decided to pretend he was a wisecracking guy from the '40s instead of just doing the role. This is the same thing that ruined the "Nero Wolfe" show on A&E - you don't put an era on like a shoe, you ARE in the era, or you come off as being an external actor.Big disappointment. A shame because it had some great elements going for it.

wyethwh Although I usually keep up pretty well with new movie releases, I some how missed this one. I discovered it only after I had gotten my first DVD player and was looking for something I didn't already have on VHS to play on it. What a pleasant surprise. It has a great cast and an interesting story. It reminds me of some of the really good comedy mysteries of the 30's and 40's. Especially Abbott and Costello's "Who Done It" (Which also took place at a radio station) It is a great family film and mine has watched a numerous times. I have also bought copies for relatives that I thought would enjoy it. It may not be an award winner but it is good fun. On the eave of it's nationwide debut a new network is beset by a murderer who sends warnings over that station's airwaves, each of which is followed by a murder. One of the stations writers Roger Henderson (Brian Benben) is a suspect and tries to clear his name and find the real killer with the help of his wife Penny (Mary Stuart Masterson) and the stations pageboy, Billy (Scott Campbell).