Essentials: Talk Radio

Year: 1988 (USA)
Genre: Drama/Media Satire
Directed: Oliver Stone
Stars: Eric Bogosian, Ellen Greene, Alec Baldwin. John C. McGinley, Leslie Hope, John Pankow
Production: Ten-Four Productions

If ever there was a director who exemplified the liberal Hollywood attitude that many people scour at, Oliver Stone is that man. Since gaining prominence in the 1980’s for such classic and caustic socio-political statements as Wall Street (1987), Platoon (1986) and Salvador (1986), Oliver Stone has since become a mouthpiece for issues ranging from the importance of Wikileaks to Scientologist rights in Germany.

Whatever you may think of his politics you have to admit his films are powerful and poignant pieces of art; not the least of which is his tiny 1988 indie-flick Talk Radio. Released a year after the influential Wall Street and a year before the infamous Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Talk Radio never really made waves or felt especially important except for those familiar with the subject matter.

Alan Berg was a radio host who was slain by neo-Nazis in 1984

The film is primarily based off of two main sources; the play Talk Radio written by Eric Bogosian and the book Talked to Death: The Life and Murder of Alan Berg written by Stephen Singular. Incidentally Bogosian earnestly plays the lead role surly shock jock Barry Champlain, a role he first starred in when the play showcased in Oregon. You may remember him, as I did the first viewing, as the bad guy in Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995). I remember thinking the man had a sinister vibe and a great voice. Both traits serve him well in the role of Barry but his emotional investment in the character, no doubt from years of playing him, creates a level of unseen yet often felt intensity.

It is that intensity that becomes the spirit of Talk Radio. You match it with the whims of a singularly passionate director and you have yourself a story that’s way, way, way too big for its britches. This is not altogether a bad thing. The claustrophobic atmosphere of a fishbowl radio studio coupled with the incessant calling of a masochistic listening public dialing on the phone every two seconds makes things almost too hard to bare. The tension leads to a boiling point and catharsis near the end of the film when Barry finally looses it and spits bile into the airwaves. He chastises and insults his listeners with a barrage of taunts and pessimistic musings all of which falls on deaf ears.

While Talk Radio is essentially a one-man-show, supporting cast does include the versatile Alec Baldwin as well as the enigmatic and underutilized Ellen Greene. One would wish that in a movie so filled to the hilt with rub-against-the-grain cynicism, calmer heads would give the story and audience a much needed respite. This is not the case in Talk Radio however. The only time we see Barry or anyone for that matter outside of the studio is briefly at a basketball game and in a flashback.

That kind of overwhelming energy flow however can be forgiven given the subject matter. Barry isn’t just a churlish radio personality but a target of anti-Semitic harassment. Many of the callers Barry is charged with communicating on his program are neo-Nazis and racists whom he gives airtime for the soul purpose of cutting them down the size. In those moments Barry is seen as a man of conscious but far from a good man in general.

Well these guys seem to be on the up-and-up

Just like in Salvador, Born on the Fourth of July, et al., Talk Radio is ultimately a character study about a man who has lost his faith in humanity. He sees a sliver of hope and salvation but finds it dashed by fate and the powers that be. Few main characters from the works of Oliver Stone come from favorable stock. They are our antiheros, the cautionary tales; the men we don’t want to be.

Oliver Stone is certainly a man I don’t want to be. While I say what I must, I am far from a firebrand and polemic figure of the Hollywood elite. Yet Stone is a fascinating figure that draws my attention both in his movies and in his political advocacy. Some cannot divorce the man from the artistry but I implore you that even if you’re not a fan of Oliver Stone, you take a good look and listen to Talk Radio.

Final Grade: A