Mia
Farrow, Seth Green , Julie Kavner , Josh Mostel , Michael Tucker
, Dianne Wiest , Wallace Shawn.
Woody Allen's gentle and nostalgic
tribute to the glory days of radio and coming-of-age during World
War II plays like Fellini's Amarcord filtered through Neil Simon.
The nominal star is Seth Green as Joe, a teenage Jewish boy, growing
up with a house full of relatives in Brooklyn. Allen cuts between
Joe's working class neighborhood of Rockaway Beach, Queens, and
the glittery and glamorous world of radio in Manhattan. Joe's favorite
radio hero is The Masked Avenger (Wallace Shawn), and he dreams
of getting The Masked Avenger Secret Decoder Ring. Using all the
money they have collected for Israel, Joe and his friends buy the
ring, much to the shock of his mother (Julie Kavner) and the local
rabbi. His father (Michael Tucker), a business failure embarrassed
to be seen driving a taxi, is an ineffective and distant man. His
uncle Abe (Josh Mostel) is obsessed with eating. His Aunt Bea (Dianne
Wiest) is obsessed with getting married. All together, these relatives
make up a rather chaotic life in Brooklyn for Joe. Interspersed
with these family relations are vignettes of radio lore --from the
cigarette girl (Mia Farrow) who wants to strike it big in radio,
to the "Name That Tune" jackpot telephone call answered
by a burglar, who guesses the right answer and wins the victimized
homeowners a cornucopia of valuable prizes.
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