Imagine someone taking the script & characters of "Leave it to Beaver" and filming it in vivid color with some cool music. That's the feeling I got while watching this movie. Sometimes it's hard to know if you're supposed to laugh with the characters or at them."True Stories" a satire of smalltown America, of course, including some extreme caricatures of humanity (sloth, dishonesty, materialism, imperialism, etc). But it's done with such a low-key presentation that it might pass you by without you noticing. This film is definitely a comedy, but there are no punchlines. Just a bizarre feeling that everything is a joke.David Byrne (referred to only as "Our Visitor") strolls through the bizarre setting of Virgil, Texas, narrating various odd episodes with his signature soft, nerdy voice. Anyone else would've come across as sarcastic, but Byrne is so deadpan--like Leslie Nielsen 2 octaves higher--that we often wonder exactly what he's trying to say. If anything.But the episodes speak for themselves. If you don't immediately catch the absurdness of the situations, the wacky visuals and blending of surrealism should be enough to tell you you're watching a quiet madhouse. Several sequences border on Terry Gilliam-esque genius while others aren't quite as effective. But either way, it's a memorable experience. John Goodman's lines & facial expressions are classic, guiding us through an otherwise perplexing experience.It's hard to compare this to other films, but Byrne's directing style reminded me of early Tim Burton ("Edward Scissorhands", "Ed Wood") with his cheerful fantasy-sarcasm. Other times I was reminded of Vincent Gallo ("Buffalo 66") with the odd compositions and asymmetric shots. And in a weird way I was reminded of Godard's classic "Alphaville", the way the humor is so elusive that you hardly realize it's there.Notable songs (lip synched by different characters in the movie) include "Wild Wild Life" at a showcase, "Dream Operator" at a bizarre fashion show at the mall, "Love for Sale" on TV (the regular video), "People Like Us" at a talent show, and the iconic "Radio Head" (which, yes, lent its name to the band) and a slew of other Talking Heads & David Byrne tunes. I confess I didn't recognize any except "Wild Wild Life" & "Radio Head", but I imagine if you're a Talking Heads fan you'll hear plenty to keep you groovin.I wouldn't recommend this to casual moviegoers or casual Talking Heads fans, but if you like (artsy) movies and/or recognize most of the songs I named above, don't hesitate to check out this weird movie.

"I used to like dinosaurs, I think a lot of kids did"-DB David Byrne of the Talking Heads, has made one of the oddest films I have ever seen. It feels like David Byrne came up with an idea, and then had to put a lot of Talking Heads musical moments into it, to justify it's existence. The songs are plentiful (not the band's best, and some of their worst), and the routines surrounding them are whimsical and absurd, and at times just terrible (there's a fashion show in the mall, that's pretty great though, recalling Fellini's Roma, a movie I hated, but which this makes more than a few nods, ).It's all set in a town called Virigil in Texas, a place of strange eccentrics that is having a celebration of "Specialness".Byrne collected all the oddest "true stories" he could from newspapers, and made a film, where all such people, like Spalding Grey as a man who has not spoken to his wife directly for 15 years, to a woman who has retired early and only wants to stay in bed and watch TV, to John Goodman, who if Byrne is narrator, Goodman is the closest we come to a main character. Goodman is trying to find a wife, by putting out televised commercials of himself; "I'm 6'3", and maintain a very consistent panda bear shape." It's dated, but very unique and a bit inspired. Rumor has it there are 50 sets of twins in this movie, I tried counting but lost track. It's just one of many strange, deadpan features of this movie, like David Byrne's cowboy hat and voice which never rises above monotone. "What time is it? No time to look back!" A lot of it feels out of place, well actually all of it feels out place, but it would be silly to act like it's oddness was only a detriment, it's also the driving point of interest. Like the fake static backgrounds of Texas landscape during Byrne's driving sequences It's a beautifully made film, the cinematographer was a vet, and it's full of musings like "I really enjoy forgetting. When I first come to a place, I notice all the little details. I notice the way the sky looks. The color of white paper. The way people walk. Doorknobs. Everything. Then I get used to the place and I don't notice those things anymore. So only by forgetting can I see the place again as it really is." In the end, it's amusing and idiosyncratic...has anyone seen the David Lynch short-film "The Cowboy And The Frenchmen", cus this reminded me of that. Also if anyone has ever heard the Talking Heads song, "Nothing But Flowers" it very well should been the theme here. This is a movie I like to hum along to."Shopping is feeling"

I view this as Byrne's first feature film, except that he never made another (he stated in a recent AV Club interview that he would like to make another but isn't inclined to spend 5 years to get the ball rolling). Byrne reminded me eerily of myself in how he interacts with people, I've read that he thinks he might have had Apsergers but I am certain it is social anxiety, however he didn't let it get in the way of the direction of this film.I'm sure Byrne could have made a lot more commentary about society but as this is sort of in the "experimental" bin, it's padded with musical numbers (which might technically define it as a musical), a mock fashion show, a pageant (as the town is celebrating its sesquicentennial) and a local talent show performed on an outdoor stage fit for a rock band, climaxing with John Goodman performing "People Like Us".As it's probably Byrne's natural inclination to observe the world around him and find out what makes it tick, I think a fully-fledged Byrne film could have potentially been much more meaty (for lack of a better term), however he is primarily a musician so it's understandable that he did not become a writer-director after the making of this film. And I'm guessing that this film only exists because of the success Byrne and the Talking Heads were enjoying at the time.Overall it stands as a one-off, strangely dated curiosity but it is light weight, mostly enjoyable and is the only place to see David Byrne outside of a music video or interview.

The film itself is rich in it's look and content. True stories is Set in A fictional small town in Texas, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the state in it's own small way. Byrne points out how many small American towns shape themselves politically and culturally from the inside. The scenes of the vast Texas landscape reflect the isolation of little Virgil. Byrne drives past a row of brand new houses with four car garages and asks "who do you think lives here?", much like he does in some of his TH songs such as "Big Country" and "Dont Worry About the Government". When we do meet who lives there we are greeted by a quite eclectic bunch; the world's laziest woman, Louis the desperate bachelor, Ramon, the voodoo priest. Often when we visit small unassuming towns, we are surprised by what we find. Byrne's character obviously had some assumptions about Virgil, Texas. He walks around town in a stetson hat and cowboy shirts and wonders why everyone else doesn't dress the same way. The songs are terrific in the film. I was well familiar with the TH album of the same name before I saw the film, but many of the renditions are on par with the unofficial soundtrack, particularly "papa legba" and Goodman's "people like us". The movie is an homage to Byrne's fascination to small town America and folk art. Byrne's commentary over a series of photo montages are great too, like when he gives the history of Texas in about 3 minutes noting that "the Spaniards offered the indians a chance to become slaves. The indians thought about this, decided it was not a good idea, and killed the Spaniards" Those that really dislike this movie are, on some level, just not getting it.