SnoopyStyle Barry Champlain (Eric Bogosian) is a hard-talking Jewish radio late-night show host in Dallas. Laura (Leslie Hope) is his latest young producer and sex partner. Stu (John C. McGinley) is his long-time call screener. It's Friday night. His boss Dan (Alec Baldwin) has just negotiated a nation-wide deal with Metro Wave. Their representative Dietz (John Pankow) is observing his show. With the new pressures, Barry begs his ex-wife Ellen (Ellen Greene) to help him. She was there from the very start when he was just a slick-talking suit salesman and she arrives for his big Monday night debut. It's a nightly onslaught of racist Chet, dim-witted Debbie, druggie Kent (Michael Wincott) who claims his girlfriend has OD, and many many others.This is an intense hard-talking thriller from Oliver Stone. Bogosian's performance is something special. The verbal gymnastic is incredible. It's the wonderful cesspool of human fears and loathing.

grantss Interesting social commentary, adapted from a play by Eric Bogosian. Plot is good, and insightful. Solid direction from Oliver Stone, in a more low-key movie that is better than many of his more well-known offerings.However, the movie maybe feels too much like a play: long speeches, basic set. In addition, the social commentary is pretty much rammed down your throat. There is hardly a likable character in the movie. A bit more subtlety and shades of gray would have been good.This said, it makes a good point, and the performances are solid. Eric Bogosian reprises his role in the play to great effect.

itamarscomix Talk Radio is a heavy-handed treatment of Eric Bogosian's superb stage play; Oliver Stone has never been famous for his subtlety or minimalism and he's having a hard time dealing with it, adding dramatic camera angles and lighting effects that don't always compliment the dialog. But it's still understated compared to Stone's other films, and his over-the-top touches aren't enough to really detract from the excellent text or from Bogosian's brilliant performance, that makes every expression and every facial twitch count, although they do spoil the ending. The film's great moments are its smallest, the ones where Bogosian is alone with his microphone, and in those moments it's truly a disturbing pleasure. With a more fitting director - maybe Scorsese, maybe Jarmusch or Lumet - it could have been a masterpiece, instead it's a solid and effective film that has stood the test of time surprisingly well and still packs a punch.

Terrell Howell (KnightsofNi11) Everybody loves a good cynical movie, right? Right? Well if you don't then Oliver Stone's Talk Radio probably isn't for you. It tells the story of talk radio host Barry Champlain whose local Dallas, Texas show is about to go into national syndication. Barry is cynical, rude, obnoxious, yet truthful. He tells people how it is and he doesn't hold back if he thinks that someone deserves to be told off. Because of this he is becoming one of the most hated figures in Dallas. People call into his radio station with threats, dark remarks, and strong opinions about what Barry is doing. And he feeds off of all of it. But the growing hatred of his persona causes Barry to slowly break down as his coworkers at the station watch on, unable to connect to the man in any way. It is a tragically fascinating story.Any movie with a such a fast paced and snappy script I will automatically fall in love with. Thus after about fifteen minutes of Talk Radio I was star crossed. The dialouge in this film is excellent and it carries so well from start to finish. This film isn't flashy and grand. It is pretty limited on location and, in fact, about 85 percent of the film takes place in the radio station. The script is what shines in this film and it's very obvious. It excellently blends its element of short staccato dialouge with incredibly eloquent monolouges. The whole film is built from its sharp script.But where would a script be without fantastic actors and actresses available to deliver the witty lines. All I can say is thank god for Eric Bogosian, the actor who plays Barry. He is incredible in this film. He delivers all of his lines with a poignant eloquency that carries so well throughout the film and makes some scenes absolutely riveting to watch. This is a powerful film and Bogosian's incredible performance makes it all the more memorable. He also has that perfect radio voice. It's robust, it's articulate, and it is stern. He's a person I could listen to for hours on end, as many people do in this film, that is, the few who actually like Barry's radio show and aren't deeply offended by it. Bogosian plays this highly unlikeable character to perfection and makes him very enjoyable and fascinating to watch.This film was shaping up to be something that was amazingly mind blowing. That was until the ending. The final event of the film is hinted at throughout and you are in high anxiety while anticipating it. And when it finally happens it ended up being really cheesy and extremely disappointing. The film then ends with about five minutes of city pans with voice over that I found completely unnecessary. The voice overs are also coupled with a really lame soundtrack that just made me hang my head in shame. I felt the last five minutes of the film negates everything from the beginning and it really disappointed me. I adored everything about this film until those final few minutes when I was just sorely disappointed.Talk Radio is a fantastic film that needs more recognition than it has. It is compelling, riveting, and even pretty hilarious at times. It is masterfully made up until those last five minutes where my opinion of the film just started to plummet. But it doesn't mean I'm going to ever think of this film as a bad film because it is not. The other hour and forty five minutes are incredible. So much so that if it had succeeded in resolving well this could have made it into the list of my favorite movies. But instead it is just going to end up being a very good film that I won't forget, but won't revere as one of the greatest films ever made.