Academy Award nominee Don Cheadle portrays
the one and only Ralph Waldo “Petey” Greene Jr. in Talk to
Me. Petey’s story is funny, dramatic, inspiring – and real.
In the mid-to-late 1960s, in Washington, D.C., vibrant soul
music and exploding social consciousness were combining to
unique and powerful effect. It was the place and time for
Petey to fully express himself – sometimes to outrageous
effect – and “tell it like it is.” With the support of his
irrepressible and
tempestuous girlfriend Vernell Watson (Taraji P. Henson),
the newly minted excon talks his way into an on-air radio
gig. He forges a friendship and a partnership with fellow
prison inmate Milo’s (Mike Epps) brother Dewey Hughes
(double Golden Globe Award nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor).
From the first wild morning on the air, Petey relies on the
more straight-laced Dewey to run interference at WOL-AM,
where Dewey is the program director. At the station, Petey
becomes an iconic radio personality, surpassing even the
established popularity of his fellow disc jockeys, Nighthawk
(Cedric The Entertainer) and Sunny Jim (Vondie Curtis Hall).
Combining biting humor with social commentary, Petey openly
courts controversy for station owner E.G. Sonderling (Emmy
Award winner Martin Sheen).
Petey was determined to make not just himself but his
community heard during an exciting and turbulent period in
American history. As Petey’s voice, humor, and spirit surge
across the airwaves with the vitality of the era, listeners
tune in to hear not only incredible music but also a man
speaking directly to them about race and power in America
like few people ever have. Through the years, Petey’s “the
truth just is” style – on- and off-air – would redefine both
Petey and Dewey, and empower each to become the man he would
most like to be.
©2007
Focus Features. All rights reserved.
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