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Talk Radio (1989)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:25
Fresh:20
Rotten:5
Average Rating:6.7/10
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Based loosely on the life of the murdered talk-radio personality Alan Berg, TALK RADIO stars monologist Eric Bogosian as the abrasive, self-loathing talk-radio host Barry Champlain. He spends his... Based loosely on the life of the murdered talk-radio personality Alan Berg, TALK RADIO stars monologist Eric Bogosian as the abrasive, self-loathing talk-radio host Barry Champlain. He spends his nights at Dallas station KGAB engaged in vitriolic conversations with a motley assortment of racists, anti-semites, rednecks, and all-purpose lunatics. Just having learned that his show has a chance to be picked up for national syndication, Barry seems to have ratcheted up the abuse level to new heights, worrying his co-workers. Yet while Barry's career is taking off, studio boss Dan (Alec Baldwin) angers him by trying to alter the provocative content of his show. At the same time, Barry's having problems with his girlfriend and ex-wife, Ellen (Ellen Greene). And a neo-Nazi group is making increasingly menacing calls, forcing him to the edge of a possible nervous breakdown. A compelling take on the dynamics of hate radio and the wages of narcissism, Oliver Stone's film is exceptionally well shot and acted, directed with claustrophobic concentration. [More]
Starring: Eric Bogosian, Ellen Greene, Alec Baldwin, Leslie Hope
Starring: Eric Bogosian, Ellen Greene, Alec Baldwin, Leslie Hope, Michael Wincott, Bill Johnson, Zach Grenier
Director: Oliver Stone
Director: Oliver Stone
Reviews for Talk Radio
He asks an accepting audience, both in the film and in the theater: How much crap will you take, and why?
Talk Radio...is a nearly perfect example of how not to make a movie of a play.
One of Stone's unqualified failures, by which I mean that even his usually muscular style can't partially redeem.
Holds up a disturbing image of a consumer culture where trash is viewed as treasure and excess spells success.
Far more Eric Bogosian than Oliver Stone, and still timely, even after fifteen years.
Oliver Stone's overly dramatic new ending puts a damper on things, but Bogosian has never been more magnetic
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