Talk Radio (1988)
81%RT Audience Score:
Awards & Nominations: 3 wins & 5 nominations
The gripping union of a director and star at the peak of their respective powers, Talk Radio offers the viewer a singularly unlikable character and dares you to look away
Talk Radio is a wild ride that will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about radio hosts. Bogosian’s performance is like a train wreck – you can’t look away even though you know you should. Stone’s direction is as jittery as the protagonist, making for a truly mesmerizing experience. Just be warned, this movie is not for the faint of heart.
Production Company(ies)
Break Thru Films,
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Thanksgiving Park, Dallas, Texas, USA
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
1989
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Stereo
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Oct 31, 2000
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
Talk Radio, Eric Bogosian, Alec Baldwin, Ellen Greene, Leslie Hope, John C McGinley, John Pankow, Oliver Stone, A Kitman Ho, Edward R Pressman, Drama, R, $3.3M, reviewed by Gene Siskel, Dave Kehr, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Carrie Rickey, Michael Wilmington, Jay Boyar, Brian D Johnson, Hilary Mantel, Jack Garner, Richard Freedman, Dennis Schwartz, directed by Oliver Stone, written by Oliver Stone, Eric Bogosian, controversial, radio personality, hate mail, deranged caller, national show, personal life, ex-wife, moral questions, provocative, gripping, unlikable character, singularly, fascinating, spectacularly demented, jittery, wired-up, fragmented, prickly, irritable, alienating, overwhelming, biting, energetic, thought-provoking, unpleasant, exhausting
Worldwide gross: $3,468,572
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $8,452,119
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,022
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 921,714
US/Canada gross: $3,468,572
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $8,452,119
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,670
US/Canada opening weekend: $80,547
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $196,275
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,673
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $4,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $9,747,088
Production budget ranking: 1,686
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $5,248,807
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$6,543,776
ROI to date (est.): -44%
ROI ranking: 1,646
Alec Baldwin – Dan
Ellen Greene – Ellen
Leslie Hope – Laura
John C. McGinley – Stu
John Pankow – Dietz
Director(s)
Oliver Stone
Writer(s)
Oliver Stone, Eric Bogosian
Producer(s)
A. Kitman Ho, Edward R. Pressman
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
3 wins & 5 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (48) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (39) | Rotten (9)
The film has a purposefully repellent but fascinating quality. Bogosian`s performance, based on his stage play, is spectacularly demented.
March 13, 2015 | Rating: 3.5/4
Gene Siskel
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
As a director, Stone has a way of merging with the point of view of his protagonists, which is to say that his films are as jittery, wired-up and fragmented as they are.
March 13, 2015 | Rating: 3/4
Dave Kehr
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
The overall effect is disturbing yet mesmerizing; most of the movie takes place in the radio studio while the hero is on the air, and the moral questions raised by his incendiary brand of broadcasting are left provocatively open.
March 13, 2015
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Not to put too fine a point on it, Bogosian is prickly, irritable, alienating and overwhelming. Underwhelming, however, is the way that director Oliver Stone has taken monologuist Bogosian’s intimate Off-Broadway play and “opened it up.”
March 13, 2015 | Rating: 2/4
Carrie Rickey
Philadelphia Inquirer
TOP CRITIC
Oliver Stone’s Talk Radio makes you laugh, makes you mad and keeps you edgily watching for the killers in the shadows.
March 13, 2015
Michael Wilmington
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
If you think you’re unshockable, see this film and then see what you think.
March 13, 2015 | Rating: 5/5
Jay Boyar
Orlando Sentinel
TOP CRITIC
Of all the new movies, Talk Radio aims to be the most controversial. Oddly enough, it is the least interesting-full of sound, fury and insignificance.
October 11, 2019
Brian D. Johnson
Maclean’s Magazine
Yet despite its faults this is a strikingly intelligent film, which keeps its chilly grip to the end.
April 11, 2019
Hilary Mantel
The Spectator
[Bogosian gives] a biting, energetic, get-under-your-skin performance — the daring centerpiece of this impressive, thought-provoking film.
February 7, 2019 | Rating: 3/4
Jack Garner
Gannett News Service
Talk Radio is a powerful movie, but a bit self-defeating in the relentlessness with which it hammers away at its theme.
January 5, 2018
Richard Freedman
Newhouse News Service
The monologues are chilling, but too many subplots interfere with them.
May 14, 2015 | Rating: B
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
Talk Radio is an exhaustively and exhaustingly unpleasant portrait of an unpleasant guy.
March 13, 2015 | Rating: 1/4
Kathleen Shea
Philadelphia Daily News…
Plot
An acerbic radio talk show host based in Dallas starts what could be an important few days when he discovers that his controversial late night show is about to be “picked up” by a nationwide network of radio stations. However, all is not perfect for him, because on top of troubles with his love life and fears that the management of the network will try to alter the content of his show he has to cope with a neo-nazi group who have been angered by his forthright opinions.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Eric Bogosian’s performance in Talk Radio is described as “spectacularly demented” by one critic.
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