TALK TO ME: Cheadle Delivers Again
 Before there was Howard Stern or Don Imus or Opie and Anthony, there was Petey Greene (Don Cheadle), an ex-con-turned radio disk jockey who took the nation’s capital
In TALK TO ME, we first see Greene spinning records on the prison radio station. The disks were provided
It isn’t quite the case. But Petey eventually does get on the air, and his brand of straight-shooting talk – “keepin’ it real” – attracts a large listenership in the capital’s majority African-American community. It’s the mid ‘60s, a time of widespread discontent and protests. The assassination of Martin Luther King sets DC aflame, and it is Greene who is widely credited with calming the city.
Dewey takes over Petey’s career, which begins to skyrocket. In addition to his radio show, Petey lands a TV gig and night clubs. There’s no end in sight; Dewey even lands his protégé a spot on the Tonight Show.
But Greene is either uncomfortable the further he gets from the streets or with success. He bolts out of the Tonight Show studio and starts a downward spiral. Dewey, meanwhile, moves from behind the light to in front, becoming a successful disk jockey and eventually buying the radio station.
TALK TO ME begins on a couple of shaky notes. The manner in which Dewey gets Petey on the air, locking the station owner E.G. Sonderling (Martin Sheen) out of the studio, borders on farce. From there, the film strays into feel-good territory; it starts to look like one of those redemption movies, where the poor inmate returns to society and makes a better life for himself.
But it soon leaves jokes and tired clichés behind and becomes an interesting anti-buddy movie. Petey and Dewey are the complete opposites. Petey is a street-smart, jive-talking badass. Dewey on the other hand is also of the street, but someone who worked hard to improve himself. Still, they soon learn to respect each other,
“You say the things I’m afraid to say and I do the things you’re afraid to do,” Dewey tells Petey.
The film works in part because it isn’t only the Petey Green story. It is as much about Dewey (not surprising since his son, Michael Genet, conceived the story and gets a screenwriting credit) and treats him with respect. It balances the plot line and raises it above the simple and formulaic.
The cast is almost exclusively African-American. The sole (not soul) exception is Martin Sheen, whom we all know is so liberal that he probably wishes he was black. But this is not a “black” film. It is a movie that transcends race and is universal in its themes.
It is filled with outstanding performances, particularly Taraji P. Henson as Vernell Watson, Petey’s girlfriend, who never met a skimpy outfit she wouldn’t wear. But Cheadle is superb and proves once again that he is one of the finest actors working today.
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