Don Cheadle and Chiwetel Ejiofor turn in great performances in this true story of a Washington, D.C. deejay that rises from being a miscreant to a man of the people of P-town.
Dewey Hughes (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is visiting his brother who is in prison and he tries to convince Dewey that the fellow spinning records for the inmates needs to be on the radio station that Dewey works for. Ralph Waldo Emerson “Petey” Green (Don Cheadle) is on his way to his conjugal visit with girlfriend Vernell (Taraji P. Henson) when he spies Hughes on his way out of prison.
He asks if the job is his and the two really don’t get along too well, but Hughes sarcastically agrees since he thinks that in five to ten years of a prison sentence that Green will have forgotten about it. However, things in the prison gets Green released for helping out the warden and the first place he goes is to WOL radio. Much to the chagrin of Dewey, receptionist, and station owner E.G. Sonderling (Martin Sheen) and he’s thrown out of the station.
However, he stages a protest outside the station and it starts to gather more and more steam. So Dewey decides to give Petey one chance to make his mark on the radio and the rest is Washington D.C. history and signaled the beginning of the shock jock era of radio (whatever you think about that).
A biopic lives or dies by the performance of actor portraying the person being told about. So that actor usually has the burden of the picture resting on their performance. Luckily Don Cheadle is not as self-destructive as Petey Green seemed to be. However, Talk to Me is a double threat since both Cheadle and Ejiofor perform mightily.
In fact, the film is expertly cast and even the minor roles have great actors in them (Cedric the Entertainer as “The Nighthawk,” a rival DJ, Sheen, and Henson all perform rather well). It all comes back to Green though and Cheadle is up for the role, even though if you go out and find footage of the real Petey he was closer to the build of Ejiofor than the skinny Cheadle.
If the film suffers from anything it might be from bad ‘70s Afro type wigs and lamb chop sideburns. The makeup artist that is able to pull this off deserves an honorary Oscar since I’ve not see any wigs that pull this look off without looking fake. A minor quibble since the performances are the thing to see.
Talk to Me is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include 8 minutes of deleted scenes, including a very good scene for Martin Sheen and a dress rehearsal for Carson. Both of them would’ve been fine to leave in the movie (especially the powerful scene by Sheen).
Next is the 10 minute “Who is Petey Greene?” which interviews Taraji Henson, Mike Epps (“Milo Hughes”), producer Josh McLaughlin, Cedric the Entertainer, Martin Sheen, director Kasi Lemmons, Vondie Curtis-Hall (“Sunny Jim”), Don Cheadle, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and executive producer J. Miles Dale about making the film. Next is the 11-minute “Creating P-town” which adds interviews with costume designer Gersha Phillips and production designer Warren Alan Young. Sadly, that’s it.
A director’s commentary would’ve been grand or even footage of the real Petey Greene doing his thing. I guess the illusion would’ve been broken including real footage since Cheadle looks exactly like the opposite of Greene.
Talk to Me is an excellent biopic that is full of great performances and makes you interested in what the real Petey was like (Youtube can sate your curiosity since the DVD really doesn’t reveal the real guy outside of the film). Highly recommended film, but the special features do feel very light.
Talk to Me is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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