Radio Flyer
I saw ads for Radio Flyer when I was a kid, but I never got around to watching it. I had seen clips on cable throughout the years, and I knew (SPOILER ALERT) it ended with an abused boy flying away from his family in his red wagon. The mother eventually left the abusive stepfather, so I immediately put it into the “pro-single” category.
The plot: Mike and Bobby move with Mary, their divorced mother, from New Jersey to California in a rusty station wagon (obviously borrowed from The Karate Kid). Soon after, Mary falls for Jack, whom the children refer to as “The King.” They marry, and soon after, Jack slaps Bobby for breaking his pole on a fishing trip. Mike and Bobby hide the latter’s black and blue marks because they see their Mom is happy. Eventually, after their dog Shane bites Jack, all is discovered, and Jack gets put in jail. Mary is ready to divorce until Jack comes back with flowers and a lame apology. Of course, she takes him back. After Jack resumes his abuse toward Bobby, the boys decide it’s time for him to escape. So they build a plane out of a red station wagon, and Bobby’s able to get away. All of this is told in flashback by an adult Mike, who’s using the story to mediate a dispute between his two children.
The only good thing about the movie is that it’s pro-single. Its tone is quite inconsistent, trying to be a lighthearted romp about two boys looking for materials to build the airplane and a serious drama about child abuse (with some horrific scenes to boot). The last thirty minutes, during which the boys are taking the plane to a cliff and flying off, are preposterous. I thought it was ludicrous to cap a serious story of disturbing child abuse with something out of a fantasy.
But I’ll get to the pro-single elements. In an early scene, we see an ostrich at a zoo, and Bobby points out how sad he looks. “It’s because he’s alone,” Mary replies. She’s obviously upset at the divorce and may be more than a little codependent.
Jack is obviously painted as a villain, and Mary goes back to him, as unaware mothers and domestic violence victims often do. But she ultimately leaves him, and he is arrested again.
If only life were like that more often.
The plot: Mike and Bobby move with Mary, their divorced mother, from New Jersey to California in a rusty station wagon (obviously borrowed from The Karate Kid). Soon after, Mary falls for Jack, whom the children refer to as “The King.” They marry, and soon after, Jack slaps Bobby for breaking his pole on a fishing trip. Mike and Bobby hide the latter’s black and blue marks because they see their Mom is happy. Eventually, after their dog Shane bites Jack, all is discovered, and Jack gets put in jail. Mary is ready to divorce until Jack comes back with flowers and a lame apology. Of course, she takes him back. After Jack resumes his abuse toward Bobby, the boys decide it’s time for him to escape. So they build a plane out of a red station wagon, and Bobby’s able to get away. All of this is told in flashback by an adult Mike, who’s using the story to mediate a dispute between his two children.
The only good thing about the movie is that it’s pro-single. Its tone is quite inconsistent, trying to be a lighthearted romp about two boys looking for materials to build the airplane and a serious drama about child abuse (with some horrific scenes to boot). The last thirty minutes, during which the boys are taking the plane to a cliff and flying off, are preposterous. I thought it was ludicrous to cap a serious story of disturbing child abuse with something out of a fantasy.
But I’ll get to the pro-single elements. In an early scene, we see an ostrich at a zoo, and Bobby points out how sad he looks. “It’s because he’s alone,” Mary replies. She’s obviously upset at the divorce and may be more than a little codependent.
Jack is obviously painted as a villain, and Mary goes back to him, as unaware mothers and domestic violence victims often do. But she ultimately leaves him, and he is arrested again.
If only life were like that more often.
