Talk Radio

80% of critics liked it

77% of users liked it

Eric Bogosian, Alec Baldwin
In theaters Dec 01, 1988
R, 1 hr. 49 min.

Movie Info

Cast: Eric Bogosian, Alec Baldwin, Ellen Greene, Leslie Hope, John C. McGinley, John Pankow, Zach Grenier, Linda Atkinson, Theresa Bell, Mimi Cochran
Director: Oliver Stone
Rated: R
Running Time: 1 hr. 49 min.
Genre: Drama, Art House & International, Mystery & Suspense
Theater Release: Dec 01, 1988
DVD Release: Oct 31, 2000
Synopsis: Monologist Eric Bogosian's one-man theater piece Talk Radio, co-written by Bogosian and Tad Savinar, is searingly brought to the screen by Oliver Stone. Bogosian plays provocateur radio talk-show host Barry Champlain, whose constant espousal of his inflammatory views and ceaseless hectoring of his callers and listeners reaps equal parts love and hate. As his program rolls on, Champlain is revealed to be just as screwed up as any of his fans, if not more. And then he pushes one caller just a bit

Critic Reviews

  • Vincent Canby, New York Times
    Talk Radio...is a nearly perfect example of how not to make a movie of a play. More...
  • Desson Thomson, Washington Post
    It's midnight in America and there's a lot of angry people out there in the darkness. If that's the main point to Oliver Stone's Talk Radio, it's the only one. More...
  • Hal Hinson, Washington Post
    Talk Radio has the loony intensity of those impassioned conspiracy theorists who look out at the world and see patterns of corruption spreading in all directions...it's another of Stone's wake-up calls to America. More...
  • Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
    Talk Radio is directed by Stone with a claustrophobic intensity. More...
  • Norm Schrager, Filmcritic.com
    He asks an accepting audience, both in the film and in the theater: How much crap will you take, and why? More...
  • Jake Euker, F5 (Wichita, KS)
    One of Stone's unqualified failures, by which I mean that even his usually muscular style can't partially redeem. More...
  • Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
    Holds up a disturbing image of a consumer culture where trash is viewed as treasure and excess spells success. More...
  • Rob Vaux, Flipside Movie Emporium
    Far more Eric Bogosian than Oliver Stone, and still timely, even after fifteen years. More...
  • Luke Y. Thompson, New Times
    Oliver Stone's overly dramatic new ending puts a damper on things, but Bogosian has never been more magnetic More...
  • Clint Morris, Moviehole
    Powerful. Eric Bogosian is a revelation. More...