Handle with Care

Handle with Care, also known by its alternative title Citizen's Band, is a 1977 satirical comedy-drama that showcases the vibrant, chaotic and sometimes funny world of CB (Citizen's Band) radio enthusiasts during a time when CB radio was a nationwide craze.

Directed by Jonathan Demme, the movie is a collection of intertwining stories set in Union, a small isolated town in Nebraska. Rather than a single unifying plot, the film offers a series of charmingly humorous vignettes that revolve around the citizens of Union whose lives are closely linked by the radio frequencies of their home CB radios. The lively soundtrack teeming with popular CB songs of the era serves as the backbone of the film, adding an enchanting rhythm to the lighter moments, and intensifying the dramatic scenarios rendering them unforgettably poignant.

Paul Le Mat stars as Spider, the movie's central character and the quiet hero of Union. Spider is a straight-laced trucker and the de facto "sheriff" of the local CB airwaves who uses the handle "Spider". He is also the son of a veteran trucker (Roberts Blossom) who, after a recent heart attack, now idles around the house communicating with his friends over the radio under the handle "Papa Thermodyne."

Candy Clark plays Spider's estranged but devoted girlfriend, Electra, who is a waitress by day and an anonymous CB dream girl by night. Using the handle "Hot Coffee," she entices her listeners with steamy talk, leaving Spider to deal with the male suitors who show up in town looking for her, unaware of her true identity.

Bruce McGill appears as Chrome Angel, a slightly misguided but well-meaning Vietnam vet who uses the airwaves to put forward his pro-American sentiments. His character adds a layer of whimsical eccentricity as his exploits add color and character to Union's CB radio community.

The charm and comedic brilliance of Handle with Care lie in the diversity and mix of its vivid characters. The film manages to create a sprawling tapestry of different personalities, each remarkably endearing, flawed, and intrinsically human. From the sheriff who takes on the handle "Love Machine," to the very Catholic nun "Portland Angel," the movie touches the heartstrings and tickles the funny bones, highlighting daily peculiarities and adapting them into amusing cinematic anecdotes.

Jonathan Demme seamlessly weaves the happenings of the Union town through the CB radio network, illustrating the social consequences, security issues, and above all, the community spirit tied to the use of CB radios. The screenplay, written by Paul Brickman, encapsulates the ethos of the '70s, the craze around CB radios, and the diverse cross-section of the American public who embraced this fad. The narrative style punctuated by lively dialogues, quick cuts and sweeping panoramic views captures the sense of life, community, and individual struggles, solidifying the role of CB radios in maintaining the connective tissue of the town.

Handle with Care delves into serious themes like loneliness, marital discord, morality, and even death, all veiled under layers of light humor and casual comedic situations. It is a thought-provoking film that uses the CB radio as a metaphor for navigating the tests of life and human connections in an increasingly isolated world. Le Mat's Spider is constructed as an understated protagonist who, amidst all the craziness, tries to bring some order and reason to the CB airwaves and his own relationships.

In all, Handle with Care is a classic example of ensemble filmmaking that brilliantly captures an era's fascination with technology and communication. It's a quirky, intelligent, and immensely entertaining picture that communicates, in an affectionately humorous way, how the most ordinary individuals, when given a voice, can create the most extraordinary stories. And while its setting might be the bygone era of CB radios, its underlying implications and universal themes continue to resonate, making it a film worth watching and remembering.