“Talk to Me”

As Henry David Thoreau once observed, it takes two to speak the truth: one to speak and another to hear.

And as "Talk to Me" demonstrates, who's listening is almost as important as who's doing the talking.

One of those rare movies that's raucously entertaining and seriously thought-provoking at once, "Talk to Me" focuses on pioneering radio shock jock Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene -- who, in the late '60s, transformed Washington, D.C., into the gritty realm of "P-Town."

Or, more precisely, it focuses on the symbiotic relationship between Petey, the mayor of P-Town, and his friend and colleague, radio executive Dewey Hughes.

As embodied by Don Cheadle and Chiwetel Ejiofor, Greene and Hughes prove to be two of the most fascinating characters you're likely to encounter -- thanks to two of the most compelling, most chameleonic actors around.

Initially, "Talk to Me" emphasizes the contrasts between the members of this dynamic duo.

Petey's a motormouth with a microphone, a convict who keeps his fellow prison inmates convulsed with profane yet pointed behind-bars observations. Dewey, a dapper young radio executive on the rise, catches Petey's act while visiting his brother in the slammer.

That in turn inspires Petey to approach Dewey for a job when he's released from prison -- an unlikely prospect, given the starchy station owner (an endearingly dyspeptic Martin Sheen), who prefers the laid-back style of longtime morning man "Sunny" Jim Kelsey (easygoing Vondie Curtis Hall).

But this is 1967 -- and slumping WOL-AM is ready for an ear-blasting wake-up call.

Petey Greene is it. When he takes to the airwaves, spouting straight-outta-the-slammer patter and hilarious, streetwise observations, a new audience recognizes its own gritty voice -- and tunes in accordingly.

Dewey, meanwhile, recognizes a rising star -- one with the potential to cross over into the mainstream, territory he has longed to conquer ever since his childhood in the projects.

"You say the things I'm afraid to say," Dewey tells Petey, "and I do the things you're afraid to do."

Petey, naturally, pooh-poohs this heartfelt Hallmark moment, but much of "Talk To Me" explores their contrasts -- and their connections -- in incisive, insightful style.

Credit some of that insight to the script, by Rick Famuyiwa ("The Wood," "Brown Sugar") and Michael Genet (Dewey Hughes' real-life son, whose credits include "She Hate Me"), which sidesteps the story's cornball, audience-uplift potential with welcome deftness as Petey and Dewey offer contrasting notions of identity and success.

Director Kasi Lemmons ("Eve's Bayou," "The Caveman's Valentine") doesn't fight the movie's inherently episodic structure, instead relying on a can't-stop-the-beat soundtrack and Gersha Phillips' spectacularly superfly costumes to help bridge the gap between the movie's raucous comedy and its gripping drama.

"Talk to Me" showcases a host of vivid performances, from "Hustle & Flow's" Taraji P. Henson as Petey's uninhibited girlfriend Vernell to Cedric the Entertainer as the velvet-voiced midnight-hour DJ, "Nighthawk" Bob Terry.

Terrific as they are, however, "Talk to Me" belongs to the dream team of Ejiofor and Cheadle, both of whom deliver Oscar-caliber performances of unmistakable, irresistible soul.

The British-born Ejiofor -- who's utterly convincing whether he's playing a Detroit gangster ("Four Brothers"), a dapper jazz musician ("Melinda and Melinda") or an irrepressible drag queen ("Kinky Boots") -- conveys Dewey's balancing act, and the tension between his inner and outer identities, with simmering intensity.

Cheadle, meanwhile, counters the quiet nobility of such recent roles as "Hotel Rwanda" and "Reign Over Me," capturing Petey's brash, lightning-in-a-bottle personality with blast-force energy and striking virtuosity. Petey may be an alcoholic and an ex-con, a hustler who sometimes lies to himself, but he'd never lie to his listeners.

They recognize the voice of truth when they hear it. And, in "Talk to Me," audiences should recognize one of the summer's best movies when they see it.