Talk to Me had me listening It is Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene's world and we're just living in it. Based on a true story, the time is 1966 and recently (and creatively) released from prison, Petey Greene (brilliantly channeled by Don Cheadle) shows up at a local radio station WOL to make good on a off-hand comment made to Dewey Hughes (Chiwetel Ejiofor) whose brother Milo (a small but strong role played by Mike Epps) is incarcerated in the same prison as Petey. The exchange between the "miscreant" and the "white boy with a tan" sets the pace for the movie. Each one has strength that completes the other and together they take over the airwaves. Petey has been called the first "shock jock" in Washington DC, or rather "P-Town". 
With the strong and beautiful Vernell (played to perfection by Taraji Henson) get the movie started with a bang and it is engaging and funny. Petey gives a voice to the "negros" who are loyal listeners and fuel Petey's spark. In contrast, Dewey has worked hard to fit in with the "white folk". He sounds like Thurston Howell the III and Petey picks at him calling him "Mr. Tibbs", but once digging deep, we find that they are indeed similar in many aspects. However, as life does, the movie takes a turn once it is announced that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has been killed. Washington DC becomes a nightmarish city on fire and Petey tries his best to calm a community in crisis. After that darkest of nights, Petey and Dewey go on to further their careers in the entertainment field until Petey seems to collapse under the weight of the price of success. Both men rely on each other until one cannot bear the weight and the other cannot bear being carried. The trials and tribulations pass, yet the bond, the love and the mutual respect for the other stays strong. When Petey died at the age of 53, 10,000 mourners came to pay their respects. I think this film is a heartfelt memorial for a man with a lot of heart. This film is outstanding in every way.
Don Cheadle is one of the most gifted yet under-rated movie actors of our time. "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."
Rating: You will laugh and you will cry, see this movie and you'll know why. Don't miss this one!
