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.

Abrasive shock jock Barry Champlain (a bracing and bravura performance by Eric Bogosian, who also co-wrote the biting script with director Oliver Stone) has an exceptional dexterity when it comes to pushing people's buttons and eliciting the most vehement positive and negative reactions from his motley assortment of callers. Over the course of a weekend Barry gets offered a national syndication deal, but instead decides to push the limits of what his co-workers and audience alike are willing to put up from him. Stone and Bogosian do a masterful job of crafting a fascinatingly dark and despairing portrait of a self-loathing and self-destructive egomaniac whose abusive love/hate codependent relationship with his lonely and loopy listeners skirts danger and disaster at every turn. Indeed, the alarming and eye-opening expose of the fear, anger, confusion, ignorance, and instability existent in the troubled heartland of America possesses a profoundly unsettling sense of deep-seated hostility and misanthropy that still resonates strongly today in this age in which people have easy access to web boards that enable them to spew off all kinds of nasty vitriol and foul invective at everyone and everything. While Bogosian clearly dominates the picture with his dynamic acting, he nonetheless receives excellent support from Alec Baldwin as hard-nosed station manager Dan, Ellen Greene as Barry's sweet ex-wife Ellen, Leslie Hope as Barry's caring and concerned producer girlfriend Laura, John C. McGinley as loyal engineer Stu, John Pankow as pesky advertising executive Dietz, and Michael Wincott as zonked-out stoner fan Kent. Robert Richardson's restless and energetic cinematography keeps the movie humming. Stewart Copeland's spare moody score likewise does the trick. A really edgy and provocative knockout.

Talk Radio is an excellent film with a phenomenal cast, brilliant writing and a brilliant leading man. Where it fails is with the cartoon character caricature callers who are plucked right out of the textbook of Texas stereotypes. Some of them actually sound like Warner Bros. cartoon characters from Bugs Bunny. It was really distracting. EB is a brilliant actor who really carried the film...with much help from the incomparable Alec Baldwin. If not for the goofy callers, this would be in my top 10 films of all time...up there with Fargo, Goodfellas and others. I was surprised to learn this was an Oliver Stone film because it didn't seem to get much publicity. Excellent story, brilliant script...very enjoyable. I highly recommend this film.

Sandwiched between his Oscar-winning films WALL STREET and BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, Oliver Stone brilliantly blends co-writer/actor Eric Bogosian's original stage play with the real life murder of Denver radio show host Alan Berg in what is often called his most underrated film to date.Dallas radio show host Barry Champlain's penchant for abusing and pushing people's buttons has led him to an offer he couldn't refuse...A chance for taking his show to national syndication. Upon hearing the news, Champlain subjects his ex-wife (Ellen Greene, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, LEON: THE PROFESSIONAL) along with his co-workers to an unforgettable night of offending his audience. But somewhere, a mysterious killer is lurking in the shadows...Bogosian gives probably an ingenious performance as the arrogant host with intense energy and bravura presence. Another actor that also stood out is Michael Wincott (THE DOORS, THE CROW) as the air-headed metal kid who somehow ended up as an unscheduled guest. At the center of this chaos is Greene who brings sincerity and concern to her committed performance.Stone delivers a live-wire satire on "Shock radio" and the politics of adjusting Barry Champlain's controversial persona for the masses. However, the issue of media predominance would later be revisited in NATURAL BORN KILLERS six years later.TALK RADIO is a film that gets you to the core. It is an underrated experience that you will never forget.