AM Radio – Film Review

DJ Taz (Omar Gooding) is barely coping with his recovery from losing everything: fame, love, and success. As he struggles with addiction and depression, a call from an avid listener to his radio show propels his life in a serendipitous direction.

Have you ever watched a movie that was so infuriating and you weren’t able to pinpoint an exact reason as to why? You know that there is something amiss and something just doesn’t feel right but you can’t describe it accurately? That’s sort of how I feel about Ricky Burchell‘s AM Radio – a film that’s certainly not awful in any way, but it’s also not good either.

It’s essentially a long string of sequences where we watch the main character DJ Taz go off on long tangents at his radio station which can admittedly be quite funny at times but it quickly loses its humor once you realize that the movie as a whole really doesn’t have a central storyline.

As I was watching the film, I kept sitting down waiting for something exciting or interesting to happen that would drastically shake up the story and throw me, the viewer, in for a loop but nothing like that ever happened. The closest thing we get to that in this film is a scene in which DJ Taz starts to get some dangerous addictions to drugs and alcohol.

Courtesy of Jegal Entertainment

However, instead of exploring these topics and making it a film about a man struggling to navigate his eccentric personality as a radio host while also battling inner demons – which would have been amazing – it instead plays out almost like an episode of a 1990s sitcom which was immensely disappointing.

But I feel the need to reiterate – this film isn’t awful. This is a perfectly watchable movie but you’re probably not going to walk away talking about it for months to come. As a matter of fact, I am probably going to forget this movie even exists within a few days which is definitely a shame because this had the potential to be a genuinely compelling story of grief and overcoming your darkest points in life.

One of the reasons why this film feels more like a sitcom instead of a feature film is also due to the cinematography by Christopher Tawney. It has the aspect ratio of a modern-day sitcom for one, but two, the camera angles and lighting all make it feel episodic instead of feature-esque. For some, this won’t be a problem which is fine, but it’s certainly something that bugged me.

I will say though, the lead performance by Omar Gooding is legitimately remarkable and it was clear to me that he had a total blast while shooting this movie and I honestly don’t blame him. I would imagine that playing an over-the-top, goofy radio host would be a ton of fun to portray, and it’s obvious while watching AM Radio that Gooding took full advantage of this and had the time of his life.

I just wish that the rest of the movie was as crazy and riveting as Gooding’s performance was, but sadly, it just wasn’t. As stated earlier, it’s a completely watchable movie and you’re definitely not going to hate yourself for watching it, but you’re also not going to walk away from it with a new perspective on anything. Maybe throw this on while you’re doing household chores such as doing the dishes or putting away the laundry. And who knows? Perhaps one day this story will be retold with a better script and a better director. But if this does get remade, they need to get Gooding back for the lead role.

Overall Grade: C

MPAA Rating: Not Rated

Cast: Omar Gooding, Michelle Bailey, Sam Brooks, Ricky Burchell, Reischa Feuerbacher, April Gooding, Brittany Goodwin, Joseph Griffiths, Heather Lannan, Eddy Rubin, Phylicia Morgan

Directed by: Ricky Burchell

Written by: Ricky Burchell, Albert Diaz, Viviana Galvis

Distributed by: Jegal Entertainment

Release Date: April 23, 2021

Running Time: 87 minutes