”Straight Talk” wouldn`t be much without the unstoppable likability of Dolly Parton, playing a straight-shooting, corn-pone-philosophizin g country girl who accidentally lands a job as an on-air psychologist at a Chicago radio station.
Though she thinks she`s only applying for a receptionist`s post, Parton`s Shirlee Kenyon finds herself behind a live mike, where she starts dispensing her common-sense advice, laced with colorful Southern metaphors, to all callers.
She`s a hit, but station manager Griffin Dunne insists on billing her as a doctor, a gross falsification that leaves Shirlee vulnerable to the suspicions of Sun-Times reporter Jack Russell (James Woods).
Hoping for a scoop, and displaying the kind of grossly unethical behavior that would get him fired from any newspaper in the country, Jack decides to romance the story out of Shirlee and sets about seducing her.
That Jack really falls in love with Shirlee, just before his big story is ready to run, will surprise only very small children.
Actually, ”Straight Talk” isn`t all that much even with the Parton charm. The director, Barnet Kellman of TV`s ”Murphy Brown,” seems extremely uncomfortable working on a big-screen scale and hasn`t been able to give the action any of the depth or weight necessary to establish a movie-size authority.
Supporting characters that might appear perfectly engaging in a 30-minute format here seem too thin and too cute to sustain feature-length interest. And even when he`s shooting on the streets of Chicago, Kellman`s flat, unresponsive staging suggests the most antiseptic kind of studio work.
The screenplay, by Craig Bolotin and Patricia Resnick, owes a tremendous, unacknowledged debt to the comedies of Frank Capra, splicing as it does the first half of ”Mr. Deeds Goes to Town” onto the last half of ”Meet John Doe,” right down to the patented Capra public confession/private redemption scene at the climax.
But no problem: ”Meet John Doe,” the story of a cynical reporter
(Barbara Stanwyck) who falls in love with the fraudulent radio philosopher she`s investigating (Gary Cooper) is, at least, in the public domain.
On the other hand, Parton does sing much better than Cooper, and when the action bogs down there is generally a Parton composition on the soundtrack to cover it. Her good spirits remain infectious, even though she seems to have lost a disturbing amount of weight lately, and the pairing with Woods is not quite as grotesque as it might seem at first-his edgy, urban manner rubs up effectively against Parton`s unflappable country calm.
Drifting through ”Straight Talk” are a number of talented performers who haven`t been given much to do, including Jerry Orbach, Amy Morton, Jay Thomas, Michael Madsen, John Sayles, Spalding Gray, Charles Fleischer and Philip Bosco.
”STRAIGHT TALK”
(STAR)(STAR)
Directed by Barnet Kellman; written by Craig Bolotin and Patricia Resnick;
photographed by Peter Sova; production designed by Jeffrey Townsend; edited by Michael Tronick; music by Brad Fiedel; original songs by Dolly Parton;
produced by Robert Chartoff and Fred Berner. A Hollywood Pictures release;
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opens April 3 at the Esquire and outlying theaters. Running time: 1:32. MPAA rating: PG.
THE CAST
Shirlee………………………………………………..Dolly Parton
Jack……………………………………………………James Woods
Alan………………………………………………….Griffin Dunne
Steve………………………………………………..Michael Madsen
Lily………………………………………………Deirdre O`Connell