Talk to Me (DVD)

Talk to Me (2007) starring Don Cheadle, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Martin Sheen, Cedric the Entertainer. Cheadle delivers a star turn as real life radio trailblazer Ralph "Petey" Greene, an ex-con who leveraged a prison disc jockey gig into a stint at a Washington, D.C., radio station, where he became a popular talk-jock. For a brief time, he even had a television show. The movie turns from comedy to tragedy as, in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated and the blacks in Washington riot. Greene goes on the radio and becomes a voice of reason which helps calm the riots. Later, his manager gets him stand-up gigs, where he succeeds, and an appearance on the "Tonight" show with Johnny Carson, where he flops. It's a vivid portrait of a cultural icon who has been all but forgotten, but who deserves to be remembered. Grade: B+