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Eric Bogosian, Ellen Greene, Alec Baldwin

A rude, contemptuous talk show host becomes overwhelmed by the hatred that surrounds his program just before it goes national.

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78% liked it

5,406 ratings

R, 110 min.

Directed by: Oliver Stone

Release Date: December 1, 1988

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DVD Release Date: October 31, 2000

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Flixster Reviews (289)

  • sononothing
    April 27, 2009
    sononothing
    When I was a kid I listened to talk radio (yes, I was THAT kid). The guy I listened to was He Who Goes Bump in the Night, Jim White on KMOX out of St. Louis. I think I stumbled on the guy after a Cardinals game. Jim White had been on the air in St. Louis for years and his shows w...( read more)ere usually open format. Most callers were congenial, but every once in awhile a tirade would start either from a caller or from the host himself. There was the occasional Nazi or someone without a clue. These are the people that listen to the radio late a night. Check out Coast to Coast AM if you don't believe me.

    With Talk Radio we get to take a look at Barry Champlain (Eric Bogosian), a nigh time talk radio host who is no holds barred and tells it like it is even though most of his listeners don't like it. Most callers hate him. When he goes out in public his ridiculed. But his shows popular as hell. So popular he's about to go national. But is that what he really wants? National hatred.

    Barry's main argument to people is to turn off the damn show. That may be what you and I have in mind. But you have to remember the old story about a car accident. It's disgusting, it's horrible, but you sure as hell can't look away. You may hate what he says, but you just can't not stop listening to him because you have to know what he's going to say next.

    Oliver Stone directs this film base on Bogosian's play and the film does have some of Stones flourishes, but it's really a claustrophobic piece. By the end of the film you're ready to get the hell out of that studio. You feel as stuffy and confined as the characters and during the times you do get out it's not for a breath of fresh air or freedom, it's more of how the disease from the radio has spread. Excellent performances throughout featuring Bogosians best work to date.

    So many years late and Jim White's retired from the night time airwaves and the Cardinals aren't on KMOX anymore. I'm sure there's another guy at night buy he probably isn't as abrasive as White. Talk radio today is more user friendly with hosts chanting the mantras of the demographic they're designed for. Talk radio is a time capsule of those days when guys said what they though on the radio, not what was expected of them.
  • Stinger839
    December 24, 2008
    Stinger839
    Fantastic script pulled off on the tiniest set. Oliver Stone before he got too overtly political. A great thriller, and a huge recommend.
  • middleeasternfilms
    December 13, 2008
    middleeasternfilms
    A really great film when you don't expect too much more than what's advertised. Bogosian's finest hour by far and really shows you what late-night talk radio is all about. A good film I found for $4 at Big Lots.
  • 76Majikat
    November 2, 2008
    76Majikat
    This was one of those films, you really expect nothing from and yet, it pleasantly surprised me. Eric Bogosian plays the role of a radio presenter and he is very convincing in doing so. He upsets practically everyone with his freedom of speech and obnoxious attitude. I liked t...( read more)he controversy of this film which made it quite unique and despite looking a little dated; it was a really enjoyable watch.
  • creepfreak
    May 15, 2008
    creepfreak
    Talk Radio is an extraordinary powerful film directed by Oliver Stone which is also inspired by the true story of Alan Berg.

    ...( read more)m89/JDHallowEEn/AlanBerg.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket">
    - Alan Berg


    "Alan Berg was a Denver talk-radio host who was murdered on June 18, 1984. He was a goofy-looking bird, with a thin face and a bristly white beard that hid the ravages of teenage acne. He wore reading glasses perched far down on his nose, and he dressed in unlikely combinations of checks and stripes and garments that looked left over from the 1950s. When the members of a lunatic right-wing group gunned him down in the driveway of his home, they could not have mistaken him for anybody else.

    I met Berg three or four times. The first time I was going to be on his radio show, I listened to it as I drove from Boulder, Colo., to Denver. He was chewing out some hapless housewife whose brain was a reservoir of prejudices against anyone who was the slightest bit different from her. Berg was telling her that no one in his right mind would want to be anything like her at all.

    "Why were you so hard on that lady?" I asked him, when we were on the air. "She was asking for it," Berg said. "Why would she call up and feed me all those straight lines if she didn't want me to tell her how stupid she was?""
    - ROGER EBERT


    Eric Bogosian wrote the screenplay for Talk Radio which was based on his own original play, with the help from Oliver Stone, but he used quite a handful of biographical information on Alan Berg. Being that this movie was mixed with Eric's own original content, as well as the truth, some facts were turned around but you still get the gist of what Alan Berg was all about.

    Talk Radio is an amazing film. Barry Champlain, played by Eric Bogosian, is the man who is portraying Alan Berg. There's a little something about Barry that you should know about...he is pissed off at the world and he will say anything that he feels like to your face. What's even scarier then Barry in this film are the people who call into the radio station, where it's there that lies the enemy and it seems Barry becomes our hero(or you may actually think otherwise). But there are just some buttons that you shouldn't push, something that Barry seems to have trouble keeping under control, for he's pushing every single person's button. Many people hate Barry Champlain, but of course it's the people that hate him the most who call in and help keep Talk Radio the number one talk show in Dallas.

    The whole movie mainly just consists of long conversations between Barry and his callers, but don't let that fool you...these conversations are very intense and powerful. Half the people who call in are either psychotic, depressed or troubled and some are even so angry at Barry that they go as far as making scary death threats. You have to see this movie and just listen to what all these people have to say. It's a series of sick conversations, ranging from pathetic, scary, to outright hilarious(yes, many parts here are very funny), and it just seems to remind us again how messed up this world really is. Great acting, outstanding dialogue, and emotionally powerful storytelling. One of Oliver Stone's best films. Highly Recommended!

    Photobucket
  • davyTi
    November 4, 2009
    davyTi
    Very interesting movie, main focus on dialogue. It gives you something to think about.
  • Zhuliya
    July 22, 2009
    Zhuliya
    Good insight into a very interesting character. This film is nothing explosive, but it's still very enjoyable, and got me closer to an amazing personality, of which we should have more nowadays.
  • kurosawian
    June 23, 2009
    kurosawian
    Extremely narcissistic and cynical. However, Eric Bogosian's play comes to life in this riveting tale of media and social commentary. It's totally captivating but somewhat self-indulgent. Still, well worth checking out for the performances and social statement. Stone keeps things...( read more) moving in order to keep the play cinematic and charged.
  • Soundsofmadness
    February 18, 2009
    Soundsofmadness
    No thankyou - Not interested
  • jeg0u812
    February 13, 2009
    jeg0u812
    Contemporary film noir without real teeth.

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Comments

  • MorpheusOne
    January 2, 2009
    MorpheusOne
    It's been SOO VERY LONG, since I have seen this movie!!!

    This movie is the very definition of a character driven story...

    I was torn how to rate it. It's been so long that I can't remember anything bad about it!! And that is virtually impossible! I need to see it again...

    One of the very best movies that I have ever seen! HIGHEST recommendations possible!!
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Talk Radio Trivia

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