Talk Radio

In Dallas, the radio host Barry Champlain has made a career out of insulting his listeners. When the show comes up for national syndication he spends a night settling accounts with his callers and with his own past. Oliver Stone directed. The source is Eric Bogosian's Pulitzer-nominated play, and Bogosian stars. Elements of a real case were added: Alan Berg, a radio host in Denver, was murdered by white supremacists in 1984. Bogosian studied Tom Leykis's Los Angeles show while developing the character. Stone expanded the play. The stage version took place entirely during one broadcast; the film adds flashbacks tracing Barry from menswear salesman to shock jock, along with his collapsing marriage. His breakdown on air becomes the highest-rated segment the show has had. After the broadcast he is shot by a listener. Filming was mostly in Texas, in Dallas and Irving. It took 3.4 million dollars domestically against a 4 million budget. It won a Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 85 percent and Metacritic at 66. Who it is for: viewers who like single-location thrillers built on talk and Stone in his hard period. Who it is not for: anyone looking for a sympathetic lead. Barry damages everyone around him to the end.