| Overall Grade: |
C- |
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| Story: |
D+ |
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| Acting: |
B |
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| Direction: |
C |
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| Visuals: |
B |
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What you didn't hear
by Michael (movies profile)
Jun 30, 2008
17
of
20 people found this review helpful
Having grown up in DC, the early word and buzz for this movie piqued my interest. I watched "Petey Greene's Washington" on television in the 1970s and was somewhat familiar with his activism and influence in the city's local politics. However this film presented a little more than a caricature of the man.
The movie does a disservice to the man and his legacy, reducing him to an over-the-top, foul-mouthed, baffoon whose only aspiration was his radio show. This seemed more the Dewey Hughes story than Petey Greene's, placing more weight on Hughes role in saving and guiding Green's career that Greene's career and influence on the city and its people. This, as it turns out, makes perfect sense since Hughes and the director had little to go on beyond Hughes' recollection of events and cursory interviews with acquaintances.
The definitive "word" on Petey Greene could be found in the autobiographical, "LAUGH IF YOU LIKE, AIN'T A DAMN THING FUNNY: The Life Story of Ralph 'Petey' Greene as told to Lurma Rackley". Ms. Rackley was a late-in-life confidante of Greene, and had hours of taped conversations and notes from the Greene's own lips. Evidently, failed negotiations for the rights to his story left the studio with less that ideal sources for the story, which, truth be told, is better suited for documentary than the big screen. The resulting product is a shallow, often-inaccurate and, at times, overly crude depiction of a social and political icon. |
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