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Talk to Me

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Talk to Me (2007)

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Reviews Counted:30

Fresh:23

Rotten:7

Average Rating:6.9/10

Consensus: A riveting look at the life of legendary DJ "Petey" Greene, Talk to Me goes beyond the typical biopic with explosive performances from Don Cheadle and Chiwetal Ejiofor.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for pervasive language and some sexual content

Runtime: 1 hr 59 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Jul 13, 2007 Limited

Box Office: $4,436,352

Synopsis: Academy Award nominee Don Cheadle portrays the one and only Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene Jr.; Petey's story is funny, dramatic, inspiring – and real. In the mid-to-late 1960s, in Washington, D.C.,... Academy Award nominee Don Cheadle portrays the one and only Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene Jr.; Petey's story is funny, dramatic, inspiring – and real. In the mid-to-late 1960s, in Washington, D.C., vibrant soul music and exploding social consciousness were combining to unique and powerful effect. It was the place and time for Petey to fully express himself – sometimes to outrageous effect – and "tell it like it is." With the support of his irrepressible and tempestuous girlfriend Vernell (Taraji P. Henson), the newly minted ex-con talks his way into an on-air radio gig. He forges a friendship and a partnership with fellow prison inmate Milo's (Mike Epps) brother Dewey Hughes (double Golden Globe Award nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor). From the first wild morning on the air, Petey relies on the more straight-laced Dewey to run interference at WOL-AM, where Dewey is the program director. At the station, Petey becomes an iconic radio personality, surpassing even the established popularity of his fellow disc jockeys, Nighthawk (Cedric The Entertainer) and Sunny Jim (Vondie Curtis Hall). Combining biting humor with social commentary, Petey openly courts controversy for station owner E.G. Sonderling (Emmy Award winner Martin Sheen). Petey was determined to make not just himself but his community heard during an exciting and turbulent period in American history. As Petey's voice, humor, and spirit surge across the airwaves with the vitality of the era, listeners tune in to hear not only incredible music but also a man speaking directly to them about race and power in America like few people ever have. Through the years, Petey's "The truth just is" style --- on – and off-air – would redefine both Petey and Dewey, and empower each to become the man he would most like to be. -- © Focus Feature [More]

Starring: Don Cheadle, Chjwetel Ejiofor, Cedric the Entertainer, Taraji P. Henson

Starring: Don Cheadle, Chjwetel Ejiofor, Cedric the Entertainer, Taraji P. Henson, Mike Epps, Martin Sheen, Vondie Curtis Hall

Director: Kasi Lemmons

Director: Kasi Lemmons
Screenwriter: Michael Genet, Rick Famuyiwa
Story: Michael Genet
Producer: Mark Gordon, Sidney Kimmel, Joe Fries, Josh McLaughlin
Composer: Terence Blanchard
Studio: Focus Features

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Release:

Aug 16, 2009

[DVD Details]
 
 

DVD Features:

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Reviews for Talk to Me

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Speaks powerfully to audiences with its potent blend of extraordinary performances and engaging soundtrack.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
09/01/07
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The movie's occasional narrative shortcomings are offset by the performances, which are uniformly fine.

Full Review Source: San Jose Mercury News | comment Comment
08/03/07
Bruce Newman
Bruce Newman
San Jose Mercury News
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Its dialogue, equal parts uptight honky and jumping jive seems, particularly in the early stretches, to have been generated by a computer.

Full Review Source: Wall Street Journal | comment Comment
07/27/07
Joanne Kaufman
Joanne Kaufman
Wall Street Journal
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The characters are brought to vivid life with remarkably compelling performances by two of the screen's most versatile actors: Don Cheadle as the freewheeling Greene; and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Hughes, the aggressively ambitious executive.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
07/27/07
Rob Salem
Rob Salem
Toronto Star
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The problem is, the last section of the movie doesn't follow the career path of Greene: It traces the blander character of Hughes.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
07/27/07
Liam Lacey
Liam Lacey
Globe and Mail
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[A] well-acted film about making the move from the street to the mainstream.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
07/27/07
Tom Long
Tom Long
Detroit News
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he mood shifts awkwardly from broad comedy to melodrama and social commentary.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
07/27/07
Terry Lawson
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press
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Lemmons, her extraordinary cast and gifted crew deliver laughing, crying and plenty of signifying.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
07/27/07
Lisa Kennedy
Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post
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Don Cheadle has elevated yet another film: Talk to Me is better than it intends to be. But thank Ejiofor as well.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
07/26/07
Richard Nilsen
Richard Nilsen
Arizona Republic
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... has a solid sense of time and place and character.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
07/26/07
Minneapolis Star Tribune
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Talk to Me is more than enough fun as a showcase for Mr. Cheadle's wit and spontaneity and as an inside look at the airwaves' transition from warm and fuzzy comforter to the anything-goes entertainment of today.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
07/21/07
Chris Vognar
Chris Vognar
Dallas Morning News
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The movie also presents '60s turbulence from a black point of view, which is not only bracing but also feels closer to the point of it all.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
07/20/07
Kyle Smith
Kyle Smith
New York Post
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Brilliant, alcoholic and self-destructive, Greene is the fascinating subject of Kasi Lemmons's funky, R&B-driven biopic -- a vital entertainment that struts confidently between comedy and drama.

Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment Comment
07/17/07
David Ansen
David Ansen
Newsweek
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A very honest yet curiously affecting experience.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment Comment
07/17/07
Richard Schickel
Richard Schickel
TIME Magazine
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About halfway through the movie, it changes direction, becoming less a biographical drama about Petey than a maudlin buddy movie about his relationship with Dewey.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
07/14/07
Jack Mathews
Jack Mathews
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Watching it becomes an exercise in frustration when a potentially great movie winds up buried inside a just OK one.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
07/14/07
Ruthe Stein
Ruthe Stein
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The movie begins with a whirlpool of comedy and manic energy, and then grows, as it must, more serious and introspective.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
07/13/07
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
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Smart, conflicted, and immensely entertaining.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
07/13/07
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
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...a movie that perfectly captures the vibe of a person, a place, a time and a way of being, and even gets, indirectly and without a whiff of sanctimoniousness, to the heart of what being an American ought to mean.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
07/13/07
Stephanie Zacharek
Stephanie Zacharek
Salon.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Talk to Me offers uplift without phoniness, history without undue didacticism and a fair number of funny, dirty jokes.

comment Comment
07/13/07
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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