Film Reviews

Talk To Me

• Rating:
• Director: Kasi Lemmons
• Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor
• Details: USA / 118mins (15A)

"Are you out of your mind saying those things about Berry Gordy?" Ex-con-turned-DJ Ralph Waldo 'Petey' Greene wasn't two minutes into his first radio session on WOL's Sunday morning show when he called the Motown's impresario a 'pimp'. Greene, played here by Don Cheadle, believed in telling it like it is, and during the fight for civil rights in the '60s, became a respected figurehead and the voice of the street. He also played some cracking music, and Talk To Me chronicles his life and times. There's so much to like about Talk To Me: the wise-cracking, snappy dialogue, the jumping soul soundtrack, Cheadle's loose cannon bouncing off Ejiofor's straight guy, and the middle finger thrown at the establishment at every available opportunity appeals to the rebel in all of us. It doesn't matter who Cheadle plays; his uncanny talent to morph into the character he's playing goes a long way in making the viewer forget you're watching Don Cheadle (apart from The Oceans trilogy obviously). This is paramount for an actor and no one does it better than Cheadle at the moment. Ditto for Ejiofor, whose performance here just might make casting directors notice that he's ready to take on a leading role. However, for such an unconventional man, Talk To Me is a pretty conventional film and what it desperately needed was a little bit of Petey Greene pumping through its veins. Using Good Morning, Vietnam as a jumping off point, this social drama doesn't jump very far and sheds no light and says nothing new about the era. The film is all build-up and then it's a breathless race to the finish, skimming over many important elements of Greene's life. Greene later apologised for his disparaging remarks of Gordy: taking poor kids off the street, dressing them up nice, teaching them how to talk, how to walk and putting them back on the street to make him money does not make Gordy a pimp. Yow.

Review by Gavin Burke