Film Preview: Talk to Me (2007)

Trailers (Due to age, may no longer be available)

Posters (Due to age, may no longer be available)

Poster Rating: D-; B

Review: Where as posters like Rescue Dawn and Balls of Fury have some element of depth to their design, this poster is so beyond banal that it’s instantly forgettable. The producers have until July to get us something a little more interesting.

My admonition to the producers to deliver something more interesting by July has finally been met. Though, they only have a week to use this to push the film, it is satisfyingly more interesting. Instead of the recent trend towards blending of film images together or the ones that merely highlight the stars’ faces, this one deftly weaves a number of characters and scenes into the poster and uses its themes to its favor.

Trailer Rating: B+; C+

Review: Kasi Lemmons is an interesting director and this film looks like another chance for Focus Features to break into the Oscar race. Don Cheadle certainly looks convincing but the preview gives far too much of the film away. This will either be another powerful motion picture or another retread of Good Morning, Vietnam.

What’s worse is that the second trailer posted is a teaser, shortening the length of the full preview while yielding similar results. Not as much as given away, but much of he teaser looks like it’s going to be a happy-ending film with only minimal touches of controversy. Hopefully, the full trailer is more indicative of the film’s merits.

Oscar Prospects:

July is the worst time to release this type of film, which means Oscar voters will likely forget it; However, with the right critical support and a good push by Focus, we could see Don Cheadle nominated at the Oscars again, though how many more caetgories it will figure into is hard to predict.