Straight Talk

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Straight Talk
DVD cover
Directed by	Barnet Kellman
Produced by	Carol Baum, Fred Berner, Robert Chartoff
Written by	Craig Bolotin
Starring	Dolly Parton, James Woods, Griffin Dunne, Michael Madsen, Deirdre O'Connell
Music by	Brad Fiedel, Dolly Parton
Cinematography	Peter Sova
Editing by	Michael Tronick
Distributed by	Hollywood Pictures
Release date(s)	23 September 2000
Running time	91 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Straight Talk is an American 1992 comedy film starring Dolly Parton.

[edit] Plot summary

Parton stars as Shirlee Kenyon, a down-home country girl who through a series of mistakes is hired as a radio talk show host. Her show is wildly successful but her success is based on the lie that she is actually a clinical psychologist. She has to learn that giving advice and following it can be harder then she thought.

Shirlee starts off in the film as a dance instructor living in Arkansas. After she is fired for giving advice rather than teaching dance, she attempts to convince her boyfriend to move to Chicago with her. After he declines and then belittles her, she decides to move there herself.

Once she arrives, she is standing on a bridge enjoying the view of the city when she accidentally drops a twenty dollar bill. As she climbs over the rail in attempt to retrieve the money, Jack (played by James Woods) sees her from his office window. He is a reporter for a Chicago newspaper. He thinks she is trying to commit suicide, so he runs out to rescue her. As he attempts to grab her and save her, Shirlee almost falls and drops the money she was trying to recover. After they recover, she complains that she lost the twenty dollars. Jack tries to give her money, saying she needs it more than he if she is willing to risk her live to retrieve it. She refuses and the two part.

Shirlee goes on a many different job interviews, and finally lands a job as a switch board operator. One day, she inadvertently walks into a recording office, and the manager mistakes her as the new radio therapist. He puts her on the air and she completes a show before being fired by the producer once he comes into the office. However, once the radio station boss demands that Shirlee be the new radio personality, the Alan is forced to find Shirlee and convince her to do the show. Shirlee accepts the position, but there is one condition: she must agree to pretend to be a real clinical doctor. She reluctantly accepts and becomes a popular radio figure as "Doctor Shirlee."

Jack, the newspaper reporter, suspects something when he realizes the woman ready to risk her life for twenty dollars is a doctor. Although his boss doesn't agree, he pursues the story. He begins to date her. They begin to fall for one another when Shirlee's boyfriend from Arkansas comes and tries to get her back. His attempts fall short, and Shirlee and Jack wind up making love. Afterwards, Jack develops true feelings for her and refuses to publish a story about her. Shirlee finds out that he was trying to write a story, and although she is angry, the two eventually wind up together. Shirlee finally confesses to everyone on air that she is not a real doctor and leaves the show. All of her viewers call in and want her back. Someone calls the show and tells everyone listening to honk their horns if they want Doctor Shirlee back. Jack shows up on the same bridge where they met and convinces her to take him back. When she hears the horns, Jack tells them that they are for her. She eventually goes back to the radio show, but wants to be called just "Shirlee."

[edit] Cast

Actor	Role
Dolly Parton	Shirlee Kenyon
James Woods	Jack Russell
Griffin Dunne	Alan Riegert
Michael Madsen	Steve
Deirdre O'Connell	Lily
John Sayles	Guy Girardi
Teri Hatcher	Janice
Spalding Gray	Dr. Erdman
Jerry Orbach	Milo Jacoby
Amy Morton	Ann
Philip Bosco	Gene Perlman
Charles Fleischer	Tony
Keith MacKechnie	Gordon
Jay Thomas	Zim Zimmerman
Paula Newsome	Ellen
John Gegenhuber	Waiter