Talk to Me (2007)

The story of Washington D.C. radio personality Ralph "Petey" Greene, an ex-con who became a popular talk show host and community activist in the 1960s.

Director:

Kasi Lemmons

Writers:

Michael Genet (screenplay), Rick Famuyiwa (screenplay)

Stars:

Don Cheadle, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Bruce McFee

9 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Don Cheadle	...	Petey Greene
Chiwetel Ejiofor	...	Dewey Hughes
Bruce McFee	...	Prison Sign-In Guard
Mike Epps	...	Milo Hughes
Peter MacNeill	...	Warden Cecil Smithers
Adam Gaudreau	...	Escorting Guard
Taraji P. Henson	...	Vernell Watson
Cedric the Entertainer	...	'Nighthawk' Bob Terry
Martin Sheen	...	E.G. Sonderling
J. Miles Dale	...	Program Director
Sean MacMahon	...	Ronnie Simmons
Richard Chevolleau	...	Poochie Braxton
Martin Randez	...	Hadley
Todd Schroeder	...	Guard Captain (as Todd William Schroeder)
Vondie Curtis-Hall	...	Sunny Jim Kelsey (as Vondie Curtis Hall)

Storyline

The true life story of Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene Jr. 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, 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 brother Dewey Hughes. 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 and Sunny Jim. Combining biting humor with social commentary, Petey openly courts controversy for station owner E.G. Sonderling. Petey was ...

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Plot Keywords:

cigarette smoking | radio host | radio show | radio | washington d.c. | 

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Taglines:

Inspired by a true story

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | Music | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive language and some sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 August 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Petey Greene's Washington

Filming Locations:

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$402,000, 15 July 2007, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$4,472,823, 23 September 2007

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, Mark Gordon Productions, Pelagius Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene during Petey Greene's first day on WOL he mentions that his father was serving a 21 year sentence on Alcatraz Island Federal Prison. This couldn't be true because the year in that scene was 1966. Alcatraz closed down in March 1963.

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Goofs

In the scene where Petey and Dewey lock themselves in the DJ booth, Greene puts on an LP featuring Les McCann and Eddie Harris' song "Compared to What". The album the song appears on, 'Swiss Movement', wasn't released until 1969, though the scene predates Martin Luther King's assassination in April 1968. Another circa-1968 montage, set to Sly & the Family Stone's "I Want to Take You Higher", is set to a song released in 1969.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Petey Greene: Wake up, goddammit!

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Connections

References Petey Greene's Washington (1976)

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Soundtracks

Looking for a Fox
Written by Wilbur Terrell, Clarence Carter (as Clarence George Carter) and Rick Hall
Performed by Clarence Carter
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By Arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing

User Reviews

Barely a scene overplayed.

"I'll tell it to the hot, I'll tell it to the cold. I'll tell it to the young, I'll tell it to the old. I don't want no laughin', I don't want no cryin', and most of all, no signifyin'. This is Petey Greene's Washington." Petey Greene

Petey Greene was as big in radio in the mid-to-late 60's as Howard Stern in the 90's only Greene was much more powerful an advocate for and influence over minorities that Stern ever even thought to be. Stern himself admits to Petey's groundbreaking DJ persona, speaking truthfully from the heart.

Talk to me smartly chronicles Greene's astounding rise to national prominence as a Washington, D.C. black advocate, whose only limitation dramatically is that in the end his career and life ended pathetically as a result of hubris and misunderstanding.

Don Cheadle as Petey and Chiwetel Ejiofor as his "Mr. Tibbs" manager, Dewey Hughes, are the acting team of the year, initially despising each other, needling each other to be more than they are, comforting each other in down times, and ultimately responsible for the major successes and failures of their lives. All this with barely a scene overplayed. Even after Martin Luther King's death, when Petey the ex-con DJ goes on the air to help mitigate the destructive revenge of blacks in D.C., Cheadle underplays effectively.

The limitation of Talk to Me is that the story has been told many times before, the typical rise and fall of a star, even though it may be true. In this case it is, and the last third of the film suffers from a clichéd depiction of Petey's degeneration and death, both of which are not half as interesting as his rise to stardom. That he struggled with alcohol his whole life, never became comfortable with stand up comedy or TV talk show hosting, and ominously coughed for cancer are not interesting parts of his life, albeit accurate and dominant in his decline.

However, his failure on his only appearance on the Tonight Show is a memorable caution about being something you are not, being forced into a role not meant for you.

Dieing in his early 50's from lung cancer is a sad denouement to a life that had been broadcasting iconic when he simply told it the way it was from a little studio that let him speak effectively to his people about rights and pride. Over 10,000 attended his funeral in D.C., more than any non-elected person in the city's history. Petey would have been proud.