Talk Radio (1988)
MCA DVD (region 1)
d. Oliver Stone; pr. A. Kitman Ho, Edward R. Pressman; scr. Oliver Stone, Eric Bogosian; play. Eric Bogosian; ph. Robert Richardson; m. Stewart Copeland; ed. David Brenner, Joe Hutshing; cast. Eric Bogosian, Ellen Greene, Alec Baldwin, John C. McGinley, Michael Wincott, Leslie Hope, John Pankow (110 mins)
Though effectively sandwiched between Oliver Stone’s better known hits Platoon and Wall Street, Talk Radio is in no way a lesser work. Far from it, for it is in this film that Stone gave full vent to a misanthropic, even nihilistic sense of tragi-comedy. In that, he was aided by his collaborator Eric Bogosian. The acerbic Bogosian had initially written and performed Talk Radio as a one-man play in New York. On the subsequent screenplay, the similarities to the real-life Alan Berg were highlighted. Berg had been an outspoken radio talk-show host, a proud defender of the freedom of speech, who showed no restraint in telling his call-in guests what he thought of them. This action also made him the sworn enemy of American neo-Nazis and it was one of these racist fanatics who shot him in 1984. This is a seminal event in the evolution of talk-show sub-culture, which by the time of Stone’s film had become extremely popular across the USA. Stone and Bogosian seized upon this to create one of the most intensely bleak black comedies to emerge from American cinema, also establishing a kind of sub-genre. Subsequent films tackled the radio talk-show phenomenon, Terry Gilliam’s The Fisher King being in part a direct response to Stone’s film. Bogosian’s persona is the epitome of the “shock-jock” phenomenon, which a decade later Howard Stern would use to arguably trivialize the medium of talk radio.
Eric Bogosian plays a radio talk-show host. From his cave-like studio he interacts with callers, most of whom he treats with contempt, finding a tentative connection only with a psychopathic rapist. One night he is informed by his boss (Alec Baldwin) that the show is being sought for national syndication and that a representative (John Pankow) is there to listen. Bogosian reacts with caution, not wanting to compromise his show, although Baldwin suggests he tone it down a bit. Bogosian calls his ex-wife (Ellen Greene) and she agrees to come down to Dallas to see him. When Bogosian returns to the studio for another night’s show, he realizes that the national feed has been delayed and that he is in a way being assessed. In defiance, he refuses to compromise. Much to Baldwin’s chagrin, Bogosian soon invites one of his many disturbed listeners (Michael Wincott) into the studio. It is an unusually heavy night, with Bogosian in especially scathing shape as he rallies against the assorted bigots, nitwits and distraught callers. Searching for a connection he cannot find he seems tense and distraught. As Greene observes him, she decides to help him by calling in under a false identity, as she had done at an earlier point in Bogosian’s career. Bogosian recognizes her voice but is now beyond any sense of self-restraint, once again threatening to alienate those who love him. read more