HD DVD Review: Talk to Me

Talk to Me stars Don Cheadle as the legendary Washington, D.C. area radio talk show host, Petey Greene, and is a wonderful, funny and engaging film. Based on Petey Greene’s life story, it chronicles his rise from convict to a radio and TV talk show host famous for speaking his mind to the African American community in D.C. on radio station WOL-AM. Petey is one of those characters I had heard about on the radio but never had the opportunity to listen to or see on TV. Few if any of his TV shows survive as it was on a small TV station with limited resources, so much so that I have been told that the videotape of each show was recorded over with the next. Too bad as it would have been interesting to have seen Howard Stern’s legendary appearance in black face on his show. Maybe someday it will show up on U-Tube. In any event, while it is likely that some liberties were taken with the true history of Petey Greene to make this film, it is nonetheless very enjoyable film in its own right, chock full of laughs as well as another in a string of excellent performances by Don Cheadle as well as co-stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Cedric The Entertainer and Martin Sheen. Highly recommended.

THE VIDEO: 3 3/4 stars out of 5

While I loved the film, I was not in love with the video presentation on HD-DVD. The film was encoded with VC-1 and presented in its original aspect ratio of 2:35:1. As one would expect with a new release, the print looked to be in excellent shape with no obvious defects such as dirt, scratches, etc. However, the overall look of the film was kind of dull, with muted colors and lack of depth along with a very soft look. While the colors were accurate, the film lacked the detail and depth as well as clarity that one has grown to expect with high def releases. I also found the black levels to be lackluster. As I have not seen the master and did not see this film in the theater, for all I know, this transfer is very transparent to the source and is exactly as the director intended.
However, it is not a great looking film.

THE AUDIO: 4 2/5 stars out of 5

Presented in Dolby True HD and Dolby Digital Plus, the audio encode is much better than the video. The dialogue track is excellent, with a deep, clear and full sound that is beautifully placed in the mix. The period R & B music used in the film sounds great. While it is primarily a dialogue driven film with a front heavy mix, the surrounds are used very effectively, especially in the action sequences of the film which involves the violence the night of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I also thought that the mix captured the ambiance of the pool hall where several scenes in the film are set as well as The Tonight Show set towards the end of the film.

IN CONCLUSION

While this is not the type of film that you would want to use to demo your theater system, it is a great film to simply watch and enjoy for what it is, a couple of hours of great entertainment. After all, isn’t that what it is all about. Recommended.

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