The film, directed by Kasi Lemmons and written by Michael Genet and Rick Famuyima, features Don Cheadle in the role of Petey Greene and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Dewey Hughes, Greene's friend and manager.

The film received largely favorable reviews, singling out Cheadle and Ejiofor's performances for praise. The film maintains an 81% freshness rating at review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, and Ejiofor was awarded with the Independent Spirit Awards for Best Supporting Male actor.

• "I'll tell it to the hot, I'll tell it to the cold. I'll tell it to the young, I'll tell it to the old. I don't want no laughin', I don't want no cryin', and most of all, no signifyin'. This is Petey Greene's Washington." - Petey Greene

• "I need you to say the things I can't say, and you need me to do the things you can't do." - Dewey Hughes

• "The problem is we've lost touch with the real DC and our attempts to win over the beltway. This has always been a station of the people. And in case you forgot, most of the people don't live in Georgetown." - Dewey Hughes