This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 30th, 2007 at 4:29 pm and is filed under Drama, T, True Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Director: Kasi Lemmons
Starring: Don Cheadle, Chiwetel Eljiofor, Taraji P. Henson, Cedric The Entertainer, Martin Sheen
Kasi Lemmons, an experienced character actress, climbed behind the camera for this character-driven, drama (inspired by true events and people, whatever that means) set in the radio biz of the turbulent 60s and 70s. The characters are great and are brought to life by fine performances, particularly by Cheadle, Eljiofor and Henson. The dialog is good, but the story seems to meander, however, and is prone to over dramatization before it suddenly changes from a small DJ’s story to a life-long tale.
Don Cheadle is Petey Green, a straight-shooting street talker who starts out as a prison DJ, who finds himself as a voice of the people in Washington, with the support of his girlfriend, Vernell (Taraji Henson, exuding energy and sexuality) and program director, Dewey Hughes played by Chiwetel Eljiofor. As Petey grows in popularity, Hughes encourages him to set out to conquer the world outside of his DJ booth.
There are wonderful characters and outstanding performances here, but the story doesn’t keep pace with the talent and is soon left behind. The end result is potential that slips slowly away and settles somewhere dangerously close to mediocrity.
