Radio

Since his Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in Jerry Maguire, Cuba Gooding has chosen sundry, often unwise outlets for his exuberant talents. One might fear the worst of a film based on the true story of a mentally retarded man adopted as a mascot by a South Carolina football team - but a lot of talent has been thrown at this inspirational story, and it proves a pretty decent offering of its kind. Here he is Robert 'Radio' Kennedy, pushing a junk-filled shopping trolley around a small town while listening to his transistor radio. No one talks to this distracted, off-kilter individual until the local high school squad enliven their training by locking him in the equipment hut. Their appalled coach (Harris) punishes his boys, and resolves to involve 'Radio' in helping out the team. A distinguished cast provides oppositional gestures, with Woodard the stern principal and Debra Winger as Harris' concerned but resigned spouse. There's not a drop of syrup in Harris's fair-minded, thoroughly admirable performance, and Gooding adds an unsettling volatility to his parade of love-me buck-toothed grins.