Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Memorable, crazy movie

Just so...so bad

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Last saw this in '95, so my recollection is a bit spotty. Never seen it available anywhere since then. Interesting cast - Le Gross is pretty good, Quentin is the mysterious Johnny Destiny is his sweet Road Runner - any decent actor could have played his role. Various other notables...I swear John Cusack is in this too, somewhere. Le Gross' character stumbles through one bad experience after another with the hopes that he eventually triumphs. I think Belushi plays Nancy Travis' husband? Pretty good bad guy, from what I remember. Look for this on eBay or Amazon if you don't want to rummage through garage-sale our going out of business video stores.

Aside from an earlier comment written about this movie, I happen to believe that DESTINY TURNS ON THE RADIO is a fine indie film. The dialogue is actually quite pungent with one-liners and gritty 'over-the-top' tough-guy-ness which makes it rather enjoyable. The story takes place in Las Vegas where an animistic spirit in the form of a man, Johnny Destiny (played by Tarantino), brings luck and good fortune to whoever he comes into contact with. The cast is idealistic and sparked with character, especially in the cases of wacky Thoreau and angry Julian (played respectively by James Le Gros and Dylan McDermott), and in a surprise casting move with comic veteran James Belushi as Tuerto, casino manager of The Stardust and new lover of the befallen Lucille (Nancy Travis of 'SO I MARRIED AN AXE MURDERER'). Johnny Destiny is the somewhat loose glue binding all of these characters together, which is a far stretch I'll admit, but the fun is in how it plays out, the excessive Las Vegasy overacting (which shouldn't be mistaken for real acting) and the quips of the dialogue. The only problem with this film, however, is that Tarantino's acting is horrid and somehow his association with this movie lumped it into a generic Tarantino-esque category, making its viewers somewhat upset due to the overwhelming lack of F-words, point-blank gunpoint stand-offs, and bloody faces. What DESTINY TURNS ON THE RADIO does offer, however, is a magical, mystical feel in a city where lady luck is prayed upon every second, and characters who obviously take themselves too seriously only to learn that success and fortune can fade in the flash of a lightning bolt. Other interesting and great casting mentions go to Bobcat Goldthwait and David Cross.

The film tells a story about marginal people--people living in the interstices and on the edges of our system. Stories of this type allow writers and directors to concentrate on interactions among a fairly small group, and (usually) they create interesting, likable people for us. This film, with its bow to magic realism, is both amusing and surprising. Tarantino is not effective as an actor, I feel. Apparently he is too self-conscious or, perhaps, does not rehearse. Aside from his performance (and it is not actually bad), the performances are fine. Just about every actor in the film does a good job.

...I mean I loved the movie, just like I love every other movie which includes Quentin Tarantino. Besides if not anything else he had a really great nam and the music's pretty good too. I just want to say that I think It should get more that 5.something. Well maybe it's such a low average because it has so few people who've seen it. People check it out is what I say.