Although it is clear that liberties are taken in the interest of keeping the entertainment level high, one can accept the basics as reliable, given the origins of the project. Directed by Kasi Lemmons, the film has been co-written with Rick Famuyiwa by Michael Genet, who is the son of Dewey Hughes and was privy to the tales about the situation depicted.

The essence of the drama is tracing what happens when Greene, a sharp-edged convict with plenty of street smarts and a personal ethic that makes him want to tell it like it is concerning African-American life at that time, meets up with Hughes, whose brother is a prisoner. Hughes is trying to climb the ladder of success as an African-American by fitting in and is working hard to build his career as a producer at the white-owned Washington, D. C. radio station WOL-AM, which is trying to succeed with its rhythm and blues format. The men are opposites, yet events draw them together when Greene, newly released, pulls out all stops to obtain a job at the station, with resulting clashes because of his aggressive, street-language style that appalls owner E. G. Sonderling, vividly played by Martin Sheen. Greene and Hughes have much to teach each other. Greene also has much to overcome, mainly his alcoholism.

What makes the film work, apart from the dynamic performances, is placing the story in the context of the time and the way in which the era is expressed. Greene builds a following in the black community because of his straight talk and appealing personality. An especially poignant sequence occurs when Martin Luther King is assassinated and riots break out in Washington. Greene goes on the air to try to calm the situation by telling his audience that this is not the right way to respond and he participates in a concert at which James Brown, played by Herbert L. Rawlings, Jr., appears to do his stuff in the interest of channeling protest without violence. The changing times are reflected, partly by the incorporation of changing styles and also by the changing music, with a terrific musical soundtrack becoming an integral part of the whole. This is a film that practically jumps off the screen at you—it is that exciting.

Taraji P. Henson delivers a sexy, sassy performance as Greene’s lover Vernell Watson, and she has some priceless scenes, including one in which she gets even for Greene’s cheating on her. For all the flamboyance she projects by her manner and skimpy dressing, she is also moving in her relationship with Greene.

Greene also gains a reputation as a plain-spoken stand-up comedian, and Hughes, managing Greene’s career, wants to parlay it into fame to which Hughes doesn’t aspire. A blown gig on the Johnny Carson show is expertly filmed, but it didn’t happen; however, it’s a fictional ploy that works in dramatizing the conflict.