Amazon.com: Despite George Lucas's name in the credits (as executive producer) and several experiments in computer-generated imagery (seamlessly included but to little avail), this film qualifies as a major dog, a door-slamming farce in which the doors are funnier than the people slamming them. Set in a radio studio on a night in 1939 that a new radio network is being launched, the frenetic and scattered story blends a growing pile of corpses, network and sponsor politics, the crazed efforts involved to put on radio shows, and the on-again, off-again marriage of head writer Roger (Brian Benben) and secretary Penny (Mary Stuart Masterson), the only one who seems to have it together. Benben has a Groucho-like sense of timing and delivery, but he can't elevate surprisingly weak comic material. --Marshall Fine
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Rating: - A Classic Comedic Murder Myster
Brian Benben stars as a writer on at Radioland. Hilarity ensues when he gets accused of several murders during the station's live on air debut. This seemingly random Lucasfilm title is a comedic gem. Benben and company bring back to life the witty, slapstick, comedies of the 30's and 40's.
Rating: - Wild, wacky, crazy, and hysterical!
'Radioland Murders' is a great little movie that unfortunately most people probably missed. It's a screwball comedy that is nonstop entertainment from start to finish. The story, interestingly, was written by George Lucas, who you can usually count on for a good yarn. The script itself was written by frequent Lucas collaborators, Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck, who are responsible for 'American Graffiti' and 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom', among others (one of which is the acquired taste: 'Howard the Duck').
Mary Stuart Masterson and Brian Benben are the leads (although this is really an ensemble film) as the separated and constantly bickering couple, both working at a radio station in the '30s where a series of bizarre murders take place during the opening night broadcast. It's a multilayered story that doesn't really give the viewer anytime to rest. Not many actors can handle this kind ... Read More
Rating: - An Affectionate and Misunderstood Wave to Radio
Since George Lucas had enough money from his Star Wars empire not to care what critics would say, he wrote and produced this affectionate nod to old time radio. It is a whacky slapstick farce with charm, moving faster than a speeding bullet. It is dopey and dumb, sweet and innocent, cornball and old-fashioned, just as it was meant to be. The jarring breakneck speed of it had critics thinking it should have been a riot, and it was received by and large like a slap in the face.
If you can get past the machine gun speed and accept it on the level that George Lucas intended, there is a sweet wonderful film here, however. It all takes place during radio's heyday on the night WBN attempts to go national and become the fourth major radio network. There is a beautiful 1930's retro look which almost gets lost in the crazy and corny atmosphere of this film. The radio station itself is teriffic, as are the period ... Read More
Rating: - Nostalgic and funny
This is a movie set in the golden age of radio, and in a madcap whirl of murder during the launch of a new network. "Murder" and "madcap" don't normally go together, but appropriate for the mix of frantic radio production and fiendish deeds that fill the screen.
Not as sentimental as "A Prairie Home Companion", "Radioland Murders" tries to re-create the programs from the Golden Age of Radio. I can't speak to the accuracy, but I found this part of the movie equally as charming as the main plot.
In addition to the headline stars, you'll see a number of familiar faces -- Stephen Tobolowsky, Michael Lerner, Jeffrey Tambor, Christopher Lloyd, and others -- as part of a strong ensemble cast. There's even a short appearance by George Burns, in his last credit as an actor.
It's nostalgic and funny, and even though radio didn't last, you'll wish it had.
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Seattle Post Intelligencer - If you wanted to store all the production data on a typical 60gb iPod, you'd need 2,400 of them. ? There are only six basic "background kids" in the movie-but using different dresses and hair styles, those 4 boys and 2 girls create over 50 different ...
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- A Classic Comedic Murder Myster
- An Affectionate and Misunderstood Wave to Radio
