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ShoWest: Talk to Me Reaction

by Alex Billington
March 13, 2007

I have to be careful, as this was a very early cut of the movie, and I don't want (nor am I allowed) to post a full review. However, I wanted to make a point to say just how much I really loved this movie. There was a showing last night for ShoWest in Las Vegas and I've been looking forward to checking it out since the trailer premiered a couple of weeks ago. Man, was this ever worth it!

You've got to start off by admiring the afro hairstyles of both Don Cheadle and one of my favorite up-and-coming actors Chiwetel Ejiofor. These two together just have incredible chemistry - even much stronger than Dreamgirls' Jamie Foxx and Beyoncé Knowles. Talk to Me is based on a real events about a radio station in Washington DC, WOL, in the late 1960's, where program manager Dewey Hughes (Ejiofor) brings on the ex-convict "Petey" Greene (Cheadle) as a DJ to help revive the station and united the community. It's a wonderful story that pulls you deeply into it very quickly and gives you a taste of some wonderful R&B and soul music from the time.

This is one of the first times that I'll ever really say I hope Don Cheadle gets an Oscar nod for a comedic performance this early-on in the year. In my opinion, he was that good! When you think about Cheadle, he's got a very distinct character. Look at both Hotel Rwanda and the trailers for his upcoming Reign Over Me, and with both you're very familiar with Cheadle's type of character. But in Talk to Me, he's almost got a "Ladies Man" sly style and yet is incredibly distinct and separate from anything he's ever done and still keeps it passionate and hilarious. I found myself often laughing out loud at a lot of great moments brought about by Cheadle, and then Ejiofor was right there along side of him to keep it going and round it out.

Last year had Dreamgirls as the strong African-American film, even though I also liked Catch a Fire quite a bit but it never picked up. However I feel as if there's really something to Talk to Me, so much so that it could even be this year's Dreamgirls, but I don't want to get too hasty. I know there are still quite a few months before this actually shows, and they'll probably tighten it up in some spots making it even better, but I want to put out the good word early-on that Talk to Me is a fantastic film definitely worth seeing when it comes around. As of now, the release date is set for July 20th this summer.

In the meantime, check out the trailer and if you enjoy it, send it around to your friends, too!

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