True Stories (1986)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

David Byrne

Writers:

David Byrne (writer)
Beth Henley (writer)

Release Date:

10 October 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Comedy

Tagline:

"It's a completely cool, multi-purpose movie."

Plot:

David Byrne of Talking Heads fame visits a typical (and fictional) Texas town, on the eve of the town's celebration of the state's sesquicentennial...

Plot Keywords:

Sesquicentennial | Texas | Fashion Show | Surrealism | Bed

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

David Byrne	...	Narrator / Lip-Syncher / Talking Heads singer
John Goodman	...	Louis Fyne
Annie McEnroe	...	Kay Culver
Jo Harvey Allen	...	The Lying Woman
Spalding Gray	...	Earl Culver
Alix Elias	...	The Cute Woman
Roebuck 'Pops' Staples	...	Mr. Tucker
Tito Larriva	...	Ramon (as Humberto 'Tito' Larriva)
John Ingle	...	The Preacher
Matthew Posey	...	The Computer Guy
Swoosie Kurtz	...	Miss Rollings
Freeman Beatty	...	Lip-Syncher
Evelyn Box	...	Hey Now Kid
Kevin Box	...	Hey Now Kid
Amy Buffington	...	Linda Culver

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Iceland:L | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:PG | UK:PG | West Germany:6 (f)

Filming Locations:

Dallas, Texas, USA

Company:

True Stories Venture

Trivia:

The "Puzzling Evidence" segment of the film was inspired by the Church of the Sub-Genius, a parody faith that David Byrne is a member of. In "church" lore, Puzzling Evidence is the name of the assassin of the religion's fictional founder, J.R. "Bob" Dobbs.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The movie supposedly takes place in the town of Virgil, Texas. However, in one scene where little children in 4-H shirts are dancing in a field, a water tower is briefly visible in the background that clearly says "RED OAK".

Quotes:

Kay Culver: Shopping is a feeling.

Movie Connections:

Features Aluminum on the March (1956)

Soundtrack:

Festa Para Um Rei Negro

A true 80's showpiece

Of all movies that seem to, for some reason, want to glorify the 80's - this film shows us simply how we were. Should be placed in the Smithsonian.

Don't compare it to Guffman or any other movie. I doubt Byrne thought of it as any sort of genre piece - in fact it's hardly a movie at all. It's simply what happens when a talented performance artist is given a lot of money.

I weep, however, for Warner Brother's marketing department as they tried to sell it. All in all they failed. Tag line should be: "We gave David Byrne a lot of money to make a movie, come see what he made."

Follow the "external review" link to Roger Ebert's excellent review.