Talk Radio

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Blu B A Classic Drama Thriller. This is such a unique fillm and I have a lot to say about it just like the film does and most of it is high praise. Eric Bogosian is incredible in this with an Oscar worthy performance. His intensity and delivery is first rate and you can't turn away. Another big part of that is Stone's direction, camerawork, and framing is just masterful. Anyone wanting to learn how to create a claustrophobic setting for a small film should take notes on this. The supporting cast also is first rate including the voiceovers for the callers which are insanely intense. And that's the best way to describe the pacing overall: INTENSE. The opening 28 minute scene is masterfull where we learn so much about Barry and set the tone is just sizzling. You can't look away when Barry is on the mic. The acting in general thanks to the incredible dialouge and cinematography due to Stone's first rate intimate and intense direction is masterful. The biggest letdown ironically is the music which is good but it's not that memorable or used much. Which is crazy given it's Stewart Copeland behind this. That's probably the weakest area but that says alot. Everything else is really good. This is ALMOST Stone's best film because man when it works it soars and stands with the best things he's ever done. The problem is the narrative outside of the opening half hour and final 30-40 minute show is very weak. It establishes Barry during downtime and further devlopment but there really isn't much story there. It really is about the show, the callers, the culture, and the messed up symbitoic Batman Joker type of relationship the two have together. It's a character study of Barry, his viewers, and in a Jerry Springer America over the airwaves. I honestly don't know how you fix the narrative issue but what is here is so good. It's a unique mixture of drama, thriller elements, and pschological horror even. This owes a lot to films before it like Ace in the Hole and Network. It's very intense, has lots to say despite not having a strong traditional story narrative, and something anyone who is a fan of Stone, any actors in this, political films, character studies, or thrillersshould check out. I struggle to see traditional drama fans getting into this though because of that narrative issue though a bit. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 07/11/25 Full Review Steve D Not as smart as it thinks it is. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/02/23 Full Review Shioka O Strong performance and direction made this film watchable from start to beginning. It reminds me Network by Sidney Lumet. Serious and disturbing, satiric at the same time. Maybe I would like to have the whole set in the radio booth, to make it more intense. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 12/04/22 Full Review Audience Member I'd lose my shit too if the dregs of society (the racists, the anti-Semites, the homophobes, the pitiful) were calling me every day. But Barry (Eric Bogosian), a Jewish shock-jock in Dallas, has made a career out of it. From suit salesman to nationally syndicated talk radio host, Barry is both loved and hated in the Dallas metro. He's a cheat who uses and manipulates women as much as he uses and manipulates white supremacists on the air. While most of the film takes part over one day and night, the plot is spliced with flashbacks detailing Barry's career and rise to prominence and also his failed marriage to Ellen (Ellen Greene) — Ellen Greene always seems to play the most endearing characters. Armed with the perfect voice for radio and paired with quick wit, Bogosian plays our protag as a flawed, but lovable, character. Kent (Michael Wincott) was my favorite character, as the prankster-turned-guest on Barry's show. I definitely could've gone for more Kent. I also loved some of the shots, especially close-ups of Barry's mouth to the mic, his profile with a character in the background — gazing inside his glass cage like he's a beautiful, suffering animal at the zoo — and the rotating, climactic "breakdown" shot. The story, originally an off-Broadway play — a script that lends itself to this venue­­ — is based on the real, tragic case of Alan Berg. Talk Radio definitely has a lot to say about free speech, even if that means Barry is a crusader (and martyr) for the right to express it. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review dave s Oliver Stone's Talk Radio is a compelling character study of a late-night shock-jock radio host who uses both his anger and his microphone as tools to keep a distance between himself and those invested in him, at one point stating that ‘there's nothing more boring than people who love you.' Oddly, it is most engaging and cinematic when confined to the broadcast booth, where Oliver Stone's creative direction and Eric Bogosian's electric performance as Barry Champlain make for riveting viewing. It tends to lose a bit of steam on the rare occasions when the movie wanders from the radio station, but, for the most part, it's a fascinating character study of one man's preoccupation with the dispossessed outcasts of society as he tries to find his place in the world. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Another one I never heard of and completely missed in the 80's... and 90's... and the entire 21st century... until now. I felt this was a very solid thriller/drama with good rising tension despite building towards a very unclear end. Strangely captivating in a good way and easy to laugh at in a bad way. Shocking that I had never heard of this. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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