Customer Reviews

Talk Radio/ Wall Street

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Often overlooked ,'Talk Radio' is one of Oliver Stone's most enduring pieces of work. It's based on a radio play written by Eric Bogosian who is the main character in this, the film version .Bogosian delivers a powerful performance as the tortured, acerbic DJ shock-jock Barry Champlain.

Bogosian's play itself is based on the death of Denver DJ Alan Berg who was shot dead in 1984 by a White Power/Aryan group known as The Order.

Bogosian delivers a brilliant performance as Champlain - a former tailor's assistant in Dallas who is discovered by a local DJ and after audition, becomes a late-night DJ on a radio station.

The basic storyline is that Champlain does a nighttime show called 'Nighttalk' where he gets to talk live to various sick and twisted individuals who ring up. The characters who inhabit Champlain's life are Laura - his lover and assistant, Stew - his producer and similarly-sarcastic wit played by Stone favourite John C.McGinley and Dan the hard-nosed boss played by the brooding Alec Baldwin.

Baldwin is trying to get a national syndication deal for Bogosian and the Nighttalk show and a rep of Metrowave ,the company interested in the syndication is in the studio checking out Champlain's show. Champlain has had a bad night with lots of weird people ringing his show.
In the midst of all of this, Champlain's estranged wife Ellen (played by Ellen Greene) is coming to Dallas for a few days.It's not made clear why she is coming but it seems that he is under pressure and needs someone in his life who truly understands him - like Ellen does.

The film is much more than a meditation on the sickness of society - the people who ring up the radio show host to taunt and be taunted by Champlain , but is about Champlain's loss of esteem and spirit in the wake of infidelity on his wife Ellen and years of abusing his guests.
When Ellen comes to Dallas , she realises that she wants him back but he has been so poisoned by the world that he inhabits that he rebukes her attempt at reconciliation.

The film plays over the course of one dark night of the soul when Champlain receives a mystery package at the station which turns out to be a bomb hoax, has to deal with a high studio 'guest' called Chet who he invites down to the studio, and finally a nervous breakdown in the studio as he finally snaps.

The end of the film is not for the faint of heart. I don't want to spoil it but I think you can figure out that there are no happy endings.

Overall, 'Talk Radio' is a sombre and serious piece brilliantly acted all around. The script is co-written by Bogosian and Oliver Stone and is intelligent and vibrant.

I can thoroughly recommend this film to all lovers of serious, character-driven movies.

It's one of my all-time favourites

This movie works so well because unlike with his other films, Oliver Stone just lets the material do the work for him. The material and the actor/playwright, actually; Eric Bogosian's excellent portrayal of a talk-show host skirting his psyche's edge on-air and off is jaw-dropping. You watch this guy weave himself into a tighter and tighter shell as his world crumbles and feel helpless to stop his flight to destruction. Ellen Green and other supporting cast members round things out, and TALK RADIO ends up being the most powerful vision that Stone has ever brought to the screen, before or since.

"Talk Radio" seems to be one of Oliver Stone's lesser known works--I keep thinking it's going to come out in a better DVD format and more people will discover what a great, intense and challenging movie that it is. However, that has yet to happen--and we're left with an unimpressive DVD of a masterful work. More intimate, more claustrophobic, and more verbal than most of Stone's visually assaultive works, "Talk Radio" explores the power of words. Largely set within the confines of a radio studio during a nightly broadcast--"Talk Radio" relies on provocative ideas and intelligent performances. With this seeming lack of physical action, however, is a grandly entertaining and exciting picture.

At the center of "Talk Radio" is shock jockey Barry Champlain, played by Eric Bogosian. The story, based loosely on the real life murder of Alan Berg, was adapted from a play created by, written by, and starring Bogosian. On air nightly, Barry is free to provoke, insult and anger his listeners. His abrasive, obnoxious persona connects with many of his disaffected, vulnerable overnight audience--but offends in equal measure. The screenplay, consisting largely of haranguing diatribes, is spot on to the nuances of real radio interplay. And however you may feel about Barry, it's clear that he's a talented and intelligent button-pusher.

Since much of the picture rests on the power of monologue, Bogosian is front and center throughout. In what I feel is one of the great overlooked performances of the eighties, he is absolutely riveting. Magnetic and loathsome, intelligent and crude, self-righteous and manipulative--this is powerhouse acting. I know some may find such unpleasantness bothersome, but it's a fascinating look at a man emotionally trapped within a character he has created. And those that circle around Barry, either professionally or personally, also pay the price. Solid work from Ellen Greene, Alec Baldwin, and John C. McGinley help keep the action rolling--and open the work up from it's "one man show" origins.

Bogosian should have received much more acclaim for his writing and performance, they are unforgettable. The film is very confrontational. I'm absolutely exhausted every time I finish watching it! But I never fail to be completely enthralled by this destructive guy moving toward an inevitable conclusion. Rarely has a picture so powerfully demonstrated the power of words. KGHarris, 11/06.

Eric Bogsian may just be the most underated actor of our time. Eric plays an argumentitive and controversial radio talk show host in Dallas, one that was typical of the 70's and 80's AM band. This movie borrows some story line from the book "Talked to Death" which is about the late Denver host Allen Berg who was murdered. Oliver Stone brings this to us in hardcore movie fashion where on air lights are bright and groupie visitors are suspicious. This film identifies the pain behind the genius of the talk radio host by letting you into his out of control life. It's not about the shock comedy Howard Stern type talk show although much of Bogosians character is very shocking and sometimes funny. Most of all he is troubled, angry and can only be compared to the tv host of the 70s movie "Network" with Faye Dunaway. Bogosian is obsessed with the worlds faults and gives his listeners some awful tasting medicine. The actors who play the callers are interesting to say the least, as they sound so real at times expressing their discord and hurt feelings. The radio talk show type here is not trying to be funny but trying to change the world. Maybe you've heard them before. Please note that since this release both sports talk and comedy talk have succeeded. In the movie you hear an announcer say "Everybody loves to Talk". More apparently, They like to listen. The ending is predictable but still surprising. This movie is not for everybody but it's damn good!

An outstanding, bravura masterpiece of screen acting - that's what Eric Bogosian delivers in this underrated gem. I can't believe he didn't get an Oscar nom out of this. Occasionally the film hits a lull but when it's on it burns hot, with a totally mesmerizing script; and what a voice the man has, damn. The flashback scenes with him in full afro curls are amazing, replete with a dated, 70's look. The thing is, this film needs a SPECIAL EDITION - the print needs to be cleaned up and remastered. A commentary with Stone and / or Bogosian would only make it even better.

No, it's not the violence; there is no physical violence except a few seconds of gun fire in the last moments of the film. No, it's not vertiginous dangling from cliffs or windows; nearly the whole film takes place in a radio sound studio, with the central character seated at a desk. No, there aren't any zombies, ax wielders, vampire, bug-eyed space invaders, or syndicate hit men. All that kind of scary stuff I can easily process as unreal, mere cinema illusion ... [except those dangling-from-windows scenes; they give me goosebumps.] ... but the scary things in this film are the emotions, the hatred and anger seething in the words of the unseen callers to Talk Radio. The violence they threaten against provocative shock jock Barry Champlain, acted by playwright Eric Bogosian, is horrifyingly real. The racism, anti-semitism, homophobia and sado-masochistic perversion the callers spew is verbatim what you can find in written words on comment threads here on amazon. Nothing is said in this film -- not the most nauseating rant -- that isn't said aloud with conviction by thousands of Americans and held in the hearts of millions more. And that's scary!

A distant friend suggested that I watch this film, originally released in 1988, this week, in response to the shooting of Congresswoman Giffords in Tucson Arizona, the moderate Democrat who had been 'cross-haired' for elimination by Sarah Palin and who had already been violently targeted by rightist extremists more than once. Yes, this film is powerfully relevant to the toxic politics of the USA today, as well as being a powerful drama in itself, one of director Oliver Stone's most subtle classics. The script, on which Stone and Bogosian collaborated, was based on Bogosian's original stage play, and that play was in turn based partly on the real-world assassination of talk radio host Alan Berg by white supremacists in 1984.

Bogosian's character, Barry Champlain, is an abrasive, narcissistic bully. He treats the two women in his life, as seen in the film, vilely. He needs to insult and defy his callers as desperately as they need to vilify him. He's a magnet for hate and self-hate, a kind of 'preacher' without solace to offer. Unlike the run of talk show ranting heads today, he presents himself as a liberal, a punching bag for his callers who has the ultimate power over them of simply hanging up, silencing their tirades. "They" hate him so viscerally that his show is immensely popular in Dallas, where it's produced. Tonight, however, Barry learns that his show is likely to be syndicated nationally; a corporate big shot, a guy with a hundred-dollar haircut and and thousand-dollar suit, is in the studio, evaluating Barry purely as marketable entertainment. Whether it's that looming presence, or the shocking ugliness exposed by the particular callers of the evening, Barry is pushed over the edge of self-recognition. He's made a martyr of himself, he realizes, a commercial Christ-figure taking on himself the Sins of the World. He suffers, and his suffering is his own solace for himself.

Bogosian plays the role to the hilt; it's no surprise to learn that he wrote the script and wouldn't surprise anyone if it turned out that the role is a self-revelation. Where is Bogosian now? I'll have to check that next.

Meanwhile, what can be done about "talk radio"??? It can't be and shouldn't be censored, yet it is a cancer on American society. It's unrealistic to think that egomaniacal media demagogues like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck will develop a sense of responsibility; they NEED the adrenalin of rage as hopelessly as fictional Barry Champlain needed it. It's Road Rage on radio waves. I despair for this country.

This was a great film. Oliver Stone's over-the-top style was perfect for this style of movie.

Eric Bogosian is a Howard Stern/like talk radio host that you know is going to get killed. As the viewer, you just do not know how it will happen. I liken this film to a horror/suspense film. He plays a fascinating role since his characte ris likeable but also very detestable. Since you know he is going to get killed, every (regularly) acerbic caller or heated debater becomes a potential candidate for a murderer.

The majority of the movie takes place iniside a radio station. While that might sound boring, Stone's style of close ups, loud volume talking, etc (which was so annoying in "Natural Born Killers" and "The Doors") becomes the perfect mechanism to make this small film... effectively larger.

This is an overlooked gem.

An Oustanding performance by everyone it.It is a deeply disturbing touching and hilarious piece.In many ways it is a bold movie but i also suprisingly subtle if your an actor whos read the play.See the movie because their are some signifcant changes from the orginal script.Whether you hate Air America or Bill Oreilly and Rush this take a bite out of any spin masters who claim to be voices of the people.

Based on a play by himself Eric Bogosian, drives us into the world of the lost souls of the night. Sometimes funny, sometimes horrifying, often dramatic, Oliver Stone directs this wonderfull movie with great talent, there are a series of unforgetable camara movements on the radio station shots.

One of the lesser known Oliver Stone movies, Talk Radio is the story of a radio deejay, a shock jock, named Barry (Eric Bogosian) as his life disintegrates just as he is about to make it big ("go national" in radio parlance). The story, based on a play of the same name and on the book "Talked To Death: The Life and Murder of Alan Berg", takes place primarily during his radio show with various angry, hostile, goofy, and otherwise odd characters calling in. To complicate matters, Barry is dating his show producer whom he treats like a slave and his ex-wife (Ellen Greene) and former show producer appears for his big "promotion". To complicate matters, Barry still has feeling for her.

Oliver Stone and cinematographer Robert Richardson do a fantastic job using lighting and the use of split-field diopter (notice the smudged glass lines in the background in some of the scenes) to bring characters closer together or move them apart to depict mood as the world closes in around Barry.

If you like this movie you might also enjoy some of the other lower budget Oliver Stone films like Salvador (starring James Woods).