GOOD ROLE: Film critics are buzzing over Don Cheadle's new film, Talk To Me. Subscribe to Archivestuff Have your say Black actors sometimes complain about being cast only as criminals or thugs in movies, but Don Cheadle has beaten that stereotype and earned critical acclaim for his roles in films like Oscar winner Crash. Cheadle's new Talk to Me debuted in major US cities this week.
As he did with his performance in genocide movie Hotel Rwanda, Cheadle's turn as a flamboyant radio disc jockey in Talk to Me, has transformed what could have been a little-noticed art house film into a motion picture that has critics buzzing. Gil Robertson, president of the African American Film Critics Association, called Talk to Me one of his favourite films of 2007 so far. "Don's films have always had a level of substance," said Robertson.
Cheadle brings to life the true story of Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene, a radio personality and activist in 1960s Washington, DC. The former prison inmate spoke for the black community during the tumultuous civil rights era in the United States, but his alcohol abuse and womanizing threatened to destroy his career and personal life. Cheadle navigates Greene's ups and downs without alienating audiences, and his performance brings comedy, seriousness and humanity to Talk to Me, movie critics say.
"What I like about Don is that he makes smart films," said actor/director Mario Van Peebles. "He plays in the gray area between the good guy and the bad guy, which is the area where most of us live." Getting films made about obscure black American characters is not easy, which makes Cheadle's track record stand out.
He is among a small group including Will Smith, Denzel Washington and Halle Berry, who can routinely get film projects approved. Cheadle, 42, seems especially adept at bringing serious-minded films to theatres, such as Hotel Rwanda, another real-life tale that earned him an Oscar nomination as a hotel manager struggling to save lives in that war torn country. "It's not by design," Cheadle said.
"I just find that real stories often have components that are more amazing than anything you could make up." Cheadle's acting was key to the box office success of Hotel Rwanda, but his participation also helped raise money to make the movie. Similarly, he produced 2004's best movie Oscar winner, racial drama Crash, in which he also starred.
An executive producer on Talk to Me, Cheadle said he is as passionate about producing as acting. He also sees producing as a new direction to take his career. "I do, definitely," he said.
"And hopefully, in the future, producing many more things that I don't have to be in, so that I can drive from the back seat a little bit." Cheadle's company, Crescendo, is working on several projects including a biopic on jazz musician Miles Davis and An Indifferent World, a documentary on the atrocities in the Darfur region of western Sudan set for release later this year. "(Don) is one of my heroes," said Talk to Me co-star Martin Sheen.
"There are few people in our business making a difference like him, on screen and off." GOOD ROLE: Film critics are buzzing over Don Cheadle's new film, Talk To Me.
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