Capone’s Seen TALK TO ME!

Hey all. Capone in Chicago here. Not that this has any bearing on the quality of her films, but director Kasi Lemmons (probably best known prior to becoming a director as Jodie Foster's roommate in Silence of the Lambs) is the first African-American female director to have made three films made and released in theaters. Her first film was the family drama Eve's Bayou, which marked a much-needed change of pace for Samuel L. Jackson's acting career at the time and is just a staggeringly fine film overall. Now Lemmons teams with Don Cheadle to tell the true-life story of Washington, D.C., radio D.J. and political commentator/activist Petey Greene Jr. during the 1960s and '70s. The movie also tells the parallel story of Green's partner in crime Dewey Hughes (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who gave Petey his first shot on the radio and continued to produce and manage him to a tap-rated television talk show and stand-up comedy appearances (in addition to his gift for gab, Petey also could tell a joke and hold a room in his grip). I grew up in the D.C. area, but I'm too young and too white to remember Greene's radio show. I do, however, have a vague recollection of his TV talk show, which was often bizarre and heated. But the real reason I remember Greene is because Howard Stern has repeatedly cited him as a major influence on his decision to speak his mind, tell the truth, and hold back nothing about his personal life on the radio. Whether they know it or not, a lot of popular African-American comics owe a lot to Greene's on-stage storytelling abilities. His stand-up strayed from the "set-up/punchline" routine, as we weaved some of the funniest stories about life in jail or growing up poor. Talk to Me begins the first time Petey and Dewey cross paths. Dewey is visiting his brother (Mike Epps) in jail; Petey runs a prison radio show. When the two men pass each other in the prison hallways, Dewey jokingly says Petey should look him up when he gets out. Thanks to Cheadle and Hustle & Flow's Taraji P. Henson (playing Petey's girlfriend Vernell), Petey makes it to the studio and eventually gets his shot on the air, during which he freezes. A rough start but eventually he finds his footing and his nerve and delivers a controversial, outspoken, and racy show that set the standard for politically charged (especially on the issue of race) radio. In small but fun performances, Cedric the Entertainer and Vondie Curtis Hall (Lemmons' real-life husband) play other DJs at the station, who at first resist Petey's stream-of-consciousness delivery, but eventually recognize him as a man of the people (and a man who brings unbelievable rating). Martin Sheen's role as station owner E.G. Sonderling has the unenviable role as one of the film's only white character, but he manages to rise about the underwritten part and bring some real depth to the character, who spends a lot of time waving a finger at Greene's antics. But many of the supporting characters vanish in Cheadle's presence. Simply put, I've never seen him deliver a performance like he does here. Like many, my love and respect for Cheadle goes back to 1995's Devil in A Blue Dress, and he's proved himself time and again in high drama and low-brow comedies. There's nothing the man can't achieve. But as Petey Greene, Cheadle gives us one of the most fully realized and fleshed-out characters of his career. Most people who see this movie will remember one sequence in particular for the rest of their lives: a re-creation of the D.C. riots after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, and the way Greene stayed on the radio for hour after hour in an effort to keep his city from burning to the ground. Shortly after that terrible day, the station and city arranged a free concert featuring James Brown and hosted by Petey that began with a rant by Greene that should be taught in public-speaking classes. Cheadle could not have nailed these events any better if he had been there when they happened. It's the film's emotional high point, and Cheadle's best moment on screen ever. After we experience the rising star that was Petey Greene, we see how he systematically self destructed and, to a degree, committed professional suicide, epitomized by an appearance on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" (beautifully re-created by Lemmons). In Dewey's attempt to introduce Petey to the mainstream, he forgot one key issue: Petey didn't really want to be accepted by all of America. That level of success was simply not important to him, and it clearly scared him a bit. Talk To Me has its flaws. The film's second half seems less focused than everything prior to the MLK events. Despite Ejiofor's admirable acting talents and as clear as it is that Dewey was critical to Petey's success, his story as a successful program director and eventual station manager isn't as interesting as Petey's. He's the straight man who responds to Petey's antics, and that's a tough role to play. Despite its shortcomings, the movie tells an important piece of black history, entertainment, and activism that simply doesn't come up the way it should. Perhaps because Greene was a regional celebrity, his story just isn't a fixture in the culture, but it's clear from this telling of his life story that his influence is far reaching and crucial. With Talk To Me, Kasi Lemmons has made her most accessible work, and Cheadle gives the performance of a lifetime. Capone