2008, USA
Drama, Romance
READ THE REVIEW AT The Desert Sun.
Extended version:
You can practically see the moose sauntering down the street.
Director Stephen Savage evokes a little Cicely (ala "Northern Exposure") with his feature film debut, Cosmic Radio. When loggers come to the sleepy Southern California mountain town of Idyllwild, the titular bohemian radio station finds itself providing a voice for the environmental group, Free Earth Alliance. Savage slips the tree hugger message behind a tangled little soap opera that would have fit equally as well in serial form on TV.
Tyler Stone (Jonathan Sachar) is the station owner who lives life half-finished. Novel, job and romance are left on the shelf, never evolving but rather awaiting the next distraction. Son of a wealthy businessman, he butts heads with tradition but is ultimately a rebel without a cause.
Hiding behind a cause is the girl camping at the top of the tree, Rachel. A senator's daughter, and she fools herself into believing the FEA is using her for more than a political face. In an attempt to build a connection with someone of similar frustration, she seduces Tyler into her sleeping bag while insisting that the end justifies her means.
The film incorporates a mishmash of stars of varying degrees. Standouts include Wes Studi (The Last of the Mohicans) as the understated sheriff who knows more than he reveals throughout the standoff media circus and his character's niece, played with intelligence and sweet imperfection by Irene Bedard (Smoke Signals). Bedard’s K.C. falls in and out of uncertainty with ladies' man Tyler as he falls in and out of the branches with a girl half his age.
Michael Madsen is curiously entertaining in his distracting portrayal of the politician pulling the lumber company's strings. Suggesting a gruff, drunk grizzly bear with Senatorial henchmen, he and his convoy of men in black show up when trouble is brewing for his estranged daughter. Oh, and also for something about trees.
In a slightly disturbing parallel, the Senator and his daughter find common ground with Tyler and his pre-teen offspring, and the pine needles hit the fan when the pre-teen discovers Rachel has found more than a father figure in Tyler.
Flying over the windmill farms of Coachella Valley and jumping in and out of Idyllwild, the setting is well utilized. The mountain town proves inspiring enough to incite a fight to preserve its beauty. Yet Savage also presents a town that depends on logging for its livelihood, so conflict is not only external from outsiders but also emerges between friends.
Savage provides a good effort, though the message gets a little buried in the suds. Some of the drama has been rehashed and the clash of generations may be a little excessive, but a woodsy change in scenery improves up on what would become muddled in the city. Who needs Hollywood when there’s Idyllwild?