Talk to Me (DVD)

I now understand why Talk to Me didn't have a longer run in theaters. No, it isn't an insufferable piece of garbage. Instead it is something slightly above average in terms of story told with high-quality actors. The story of "Petey" Greene, as inspiring as it is, just doesn't have that certain something that makes it a great story. Talk to Me has some great performances, but the story isn't engaging enough to put the asses in the theaters. However, on DVD it is fun for one night.

The story begins with Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene Jr. (Don Cheadle) in jail and running his mouth over the prison airwaves, entertaining the inmates and also, hopefully, serving as a jump-off point to kick start his life once he gets out of the joint. Once out he manages to talk his way onto the air at Washington D.C.'s WOL thanks to program director Dewey Hughes played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who looks almost exactly like Andre Benjamin later on in this film and considering Mike Epps and Cedric the Entertainer play small roles in the film I had to look closely a couple of times to make sure it wasn't actually him. As the story goes, Talk to Me tells the story of Greene's rise to fame, culminating first with his broadcast following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and a second time during an episode of "The Tonight Show".

As I said, the performances are top notch from everyone involved. Cheadle never fails to impress and neither does Ejiofor, and Taraji P. Henson is once again outstanding as Greene's girl Vernell. Unfortunately it boils down to what feels like a watered down story with great actors, but it would seem Kasi Lemmons is moving in the right direction considering before this she played "Angry Black Woman" in Waist Deep, a credit I am sure she cherishes.

On the DVD front this one comes pretty much bare bones, which is a bit of a surprise since this is Lemmons' first big directorial gig and it would have been great to have the real Dewey Hughes lend some information over a commentary track. Instead we get two silly featurettes and a group of deleted scenes, which actually contain a couple of good scenes.

I would definitely recommend this as a one-time rental, but more than that just isn't worth your money, it's fun for its two hour running time, but not one you will be watching over and over.