Straight Talk

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Straight Talk ★★ ½ 1992 (PG)

Shirlee (Parton), a down-home gal from Arkansas, heads for Chicago to start life anew. She finds a job as a receptionist at WNDY radio, but is mistaken for the new radio psychologist. Her homespun advice (“Get off the cross. Somebody needs the wood.”) becomes hugely popular and soon “Dr.” Shirlee is the toast of the town. Parton's advice is the funniest part of this flimsy movie, but she is helped immensely by Dunne and Orbach. Woods, however, is not in his element in a romantic comedy, and holds the movie down. 91m/C VHS, DVD . Dolly Parton, James Woods, Griffin Dunne, Michael Madsen, Deirdre O'Connell, John Sayles, Teri Hatcher, Spalding Gray, Jerry Orbach, Philip Bosco, Charles Fleischer, Jay Thomas; D: Barnet Kellman; W: Craig Bolotin, Patricia Resnick; M: Brad Fiedel.