July 8, 2007
BY DAVE HOEKSTRA [email protected]
Just like a vintage 45, "Talk to Me" clicks on dual levels. The true story of Washington, D.C., disc jockey Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene Jr., this film shows how the fury of soul music and political conviction can empower a community -- but that slower, personal change is more difficult to acknowledge.
Featuring Academy Award nominee Don Cheadle as Greene and Martin Sheen as the WOL-AM radio station owner, "Talk to Me" -- opening Friday in local theaters -- is directed by Kasi Lemmons, whose feature screenwriting and directorial debut, "Eve's Bayou," was the highest-grossing independent film of 1997.
Greene (1931-1984) was a popular DJ who cut his chops at Virginia's Lorton Prison while doing time for armed robbery. He was permitted to talk to prisoners over a P.A. system during 20-minute shifts in the morning and evening. Greene was paroled, and WOL-AM program director Dewey Hughes took a chance on his ribald street style. The relationship blossomed to the point where Hughes became Greene's manager and steered him into television and the ultimate goal: "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson." (The appearance never happened, but it comes close in the film.)
http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/hoekstra/459551,SHO-Sunday-movies08.article
BY DAVE HOEKSTRA [email protected]
Just like a vintage 45, "Talk to Me" clicks on dual levels. The true story of Washington, D.C., disc jockey Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene Jr., this film shows how the fury of soul music and political conviction can empower a community -- but that slower, personal change is more difficult to acknowledge.
Featuring Academy Award nominee Don Cheadle as Greene and Martin Sheen as the WOL-AM radio station owner, "Talk to Me" -- opening Friday in local theaters -- is directed by Kasi Lemmons, whose feature screenwriting and directorial debut, "Eve's Bayou," was the highest-grossing independent film of 1997.
Greene (1931-1984) was a popular DJ who cut his chops at Virginia's Lorton Prison while doing time for armed robbery. He was permitted to talk to prisoners over a P.A. system during 20-minute shifts in the morning and evening. Greene was paroled, and WOL-AM program director Dewey Hughes took a chance on his ribald street style. The relationship blossomed to the point where Hughes became Greene's manager and steered him into television and the ultimate goal: "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson." (The appearance never happened, but it comes close in the film.)
http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/hoekstra/459551,SHO-Sunday-movies08.article