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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 30, 2007)
$,5&21',7,21(' BY JASON BLAIR !24 #).%-!3 ,HZ[[O 6WDUWV )ULGD\ Petey Greene (Don Cheadle) gets some airtime in Talk to Me O[[W!IPQV\JPULTHZJVT HALLOWEEN R 12:50, 3:35, 7:20, 10:05 DEATH SENTENCE R '21&+($'/(&+,:(7(/(-,2)25 1LJKWO\ 6XQ 0210DW '($7+$7$)81(5$/ GLUHFWHGE\ 1:20, 4:05, 7:25, 10:20 BALLS OF FURY PG13 12:35, 3:00, 5:30, 7:55, 10:20 5 5 1LJKWO\ )UDQN2] 6DW6XQ 0210DW MR. BEAN’S HOLIDAY PG 12:05, 2:30, 5:05, 7:30, 9:55 THE NANNY DIARIES PG13 1:30, 4:10, 7:05, 9:45 8FIBWFOFXXBZTUPTBWFNPOFZTFFNPWJFT SUPERBAD R i5IFNPWJFTXPPOT BOEZPVXJMMUPPw WAR R BENJTTJPODBSEPOMZ 4&/*03BENJTTJPODBSEPOMZ GF;= 1LJKWO\6DW0DW 1:55, 4:30, 7:35, 10:10 0XFO(MFJCFSNBO &OUFSUBJONFOU8FFLMZ %,-28/$7(1,7( RQO\ )5, 1:05, 2:05, 3:55, 4:55, 7:10, 7:45, 10:00, 10:35 THE INVASION PG13 5 4:15, 10:25 RUSH HOUR 3 PG13 2:00, 4:25, 7:05, 9:30 THE BOURNE ULTIMA- TUM PG13 1:10, 1:50, 4:00, 4:40, 7:00, 7:45, 9:50, 10:30 THE SIMPSONS MOVIE PG13 12:20, 2:55, 5:25, 7:50, 10:15 HAIRSPRAY PG 1:15, 7:15 I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY PG13 12:45, 3:40, 7:10, 10:05 HARRY POTTER & THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX PG13 12:30, 3:45, 7:00, 10:15 TRANSFORMERS PG13 12:10, 3:10, 6:55, 10:00 STARDUST PG13 12:55, 3:50, 7:15, 10:10 Ladies’ Man 6$7 68 11 ,*+ 76 1V+WVKMZ\4I\M6Q\M:-?16, -9(52A(77( GF;= (5+;/,46;/,9: PU:[VJROVST:^LKLU 73<:! + O KVJ\TLU[HY`PU,UN HUPZ 65,>,,2,5+653@ SPZO IULVDW VXQ Don Cheadle, minus the Courvoisier IULVDW VXQ 1408 PG13 OCEAN’S 13 PG13 11:55, 2:30, 5:00, 7:30, 10:05 11:25, 2:25, 7:35, 10:25 LICENSE TO WED PG13 SURF’S UP PG 11:45, 2:15, 4:35, 7:00, 9:30 EVAN ALMIGHTY PG I KNOW WHO KILLED ME R 11:30, 2:10, 4:40, 7:10, 9:35 12:10, 2:45, 5:15, 7:45, 10:15 11:35, 2:05, 4:30, 6:55, 9:25 PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END PG13 11:15, 12:00, 3:00, 4:15, 6:45, 8:00, 10:20 LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD PG13 11:20, 2:00, 4:25, 6:50, 9:20 SHREK THE THIRD PG KNOCKED UP R 11:40, 3:05, 7:05, 9:55 FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER PG 11:50, 2:40, 5:05, 7:50, 10:00 12:05, 3:10, 7:15, 10:10 DEATH SENTENCE (R) - ID REQ'D (1130 205 430) 720 955 HALLOWEEN (R) - ID REQ'D (1215 330) 710 1005 BALLS OF FURY (PG-13) (1200 1245 215 410 440) 715 750 935 1025 OC & DA: MR. BEAN'S HOLIDAY (G) Fri. (1140) 700 Sat. (200) 920 Sun. (1140) 920 RESURRECTING THE CHAMP (PG-13) 940 PM WAR (R) - ID REQ'D (1150 220 450) 735 1020 MR. BEAN'S HOLIDAY (G) Fri. (200 425) 920 Sat. (1140 425) 700 Sun. (200 425) 700 THE NANNY DIARIES (PG-13) (1155 230 505) 740 1010 THE INVASION - DIGITAL PROJECTION (PG-13) 1000 PM SUPERBAD (R) - ID REQ'D (1150 235 510) 745 1015 STARDUST (PG-13) (1230 355) 655 955 RUSH HOUR 3 (PG-13) (1135 210 455) 725 945 BECOMING JANE (PG) (335) 630 915 THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM (PG-13) (1210 350) 635 950 THE SIMPSONS MOVIE (PG-13) (1205 225 445) 705 925 HAIRSPRAY (PG) (1235 345) 640 HARRY POTTER & THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX (PG-13) (1145 340) 650 RATATOUILLE (G) (1225) PM HALLOWEEN (R) - ID REQ'D BALLS OF FURY (PG-13) WAR (R) - ID REQ'D THE NANNY DIARIES (PG-13) SUPERBAD (R) - ID REQ'D RUSH HOUR 3 (PG-13) THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM (PG-13) (1200 235 510) 745 1025 (1210 220 440) 700 920 (1215 245 515) 755 1020 (1145 210 435) 710 945 (1150 225 500) 735 1015 (1205 240 505) 715 925 (1145 215 445) 720 955 Fri. (210 440) 710 940 Sat. & Sun. (1140 210 440) 710 940 SUPERBAD (R) - ID REQ'D Fri. (220 450) 720 950 Sat. & Sun. (1150 220 450) 720 950 MR. BEAN'S HOLIDAY (G) Fri. (230 510) 740 1010 Sat. & Sun. (1220 230 510) 740 1010 THE SIMPSONS MOVIE (PG-13) Fri. (430) 700 930 Sat. & Sun. (1200 430) 700 930 RATATOUILLE (G) (200) PM Times For 8/31 - 9/2 ©2007 TALK TO ME: Directed by Kasi Lemmons. Written by Michael Genet and Rick Famujiwa. Cinematography, Stephane Fontaine. Music, Terence Blanchard. Starring Don Cheadle, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mike Epps, Cedric the Entertainer, Taraji P. Henson and Martin Sheen. Focus Features, 2007. R. 118 minutes. 44211 T alk to Me, not to be confused with the Yasmine Bleeth TV movie or the Nirvana song or the Stevie Nicks song, is the new film starring Don Cheadle, an actor so gifted he can’t be mistaken for anyone else. The film purports to examine the ups and downs of Ralph “Petey” Greene, an ex-con who rose to prominence as a DJ dur- ing the 1960s in Washington, D.C. Released from prison, Petey seeks a job in radio with all the finesse of Paulie Walnuts, a style not lost on Dewey Hughes (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the programming head at WOL-AM. When Dewey puts Petey on the air, the station phones go beserk in support of Petey’s from- the-hip rants, raising two distinct possibili- ties: One, that Petey’s arrival will herald a golden age of talk radio, during which a city will turn to this urban impresario, however coarse; or two, that Talk to Me will aerosol a day-glo gloss to a flawed man who briefly made a difference. As it turns out, both pre- dictions are correct. Early on, Petey’s unsophisticated tirades play well against Dewey’s highbrow stylings. It’s like watching Frazier land jabs on Ali. (Actually, Dewey confesses that his childhood idol was Johnny Carson, that mask of white control and restraint, to which Petey’s girl replies derisively, “It shows.”) Although Dewey learns to take some chances, fame goes straight to Petey’s head — or as Petey would say, both of his heads. One can’t help thinking of Boogie Nights, that masterful ensemble of perfect pitch and delivery, during the early part of Talk to Me. Then, suddenly, Martin Luther King Jr. is shot. Petey takes to the airwaves to soothe himself, where his performance amidst chaos is subtle and controlled. Dewey, sensing opportunity, insists that under his manage- ment, Petey can become a national figure, while Petey finally feels like he’s at home in his hometown. Dewey presses Petey into an upward spiral of engagements until, on their biggest stage together, Petey decides he’s had enough. Petey’s meltdown on national TV is the reason you’ve never heard of Petey Greene. Crispin Glover must be smiling to himself somewhere. Unfortunately for Talk to Me, the tonal shift from gentle biopic to record of social upheaval unmoors the film. After MLK, the film lurches forward, but the wheels can’t support the carriage, and it breaks. Talk to Me aims for a breezy hipness, but it seems lazy and out of step. How slight Talk to Me feels once the film’s aperture opens beyond the immediate field of view; how quiet it seems despite the tumult of its times and the quality of its performers. Cheadle, usually so reliable, overplays Petey at times; the energy he brings dulls and blurs the ragged Petey, rather than bringing him into focus. Ejiofor, so promising in smaller roles prior to this (Kinky Boots, Children of Men), is at the mercy of a screenplay that has him say- ing one thing but doing another. Consistent, Talk to Me isn’t. Veteran actors like Martin Sheen and Cedric the Entertainer are nearly wasted here, given how little effort the script makes to flesh them out. Visually, Talk to Me is problematic: The film is cleansed of the soot and grit of the times, relying upon a palette so bright that even the wigs have a chemical sheen. I kept expect- ing the cast to break into song, so staged do some of the later scenes feel. Thankfully, it doesn’t happen. ew HALLOWEEN (R) - ID REQ'D 26 AUGUST 30, 2007 ECLECTIC NORTHWEST DINING HAPPY HOUR M-F 3:30-6:00 $ 1 O F F E V E RY T H I N G ! 94 W. Broadway • 485-1124
