History Film / TrueStories

* NiceHat: The narrator wears a ten-gallon hat throughout the film.

** Byrne's character UpToEleven. For example, he gazes at some ugly tract housing and muses, "Who's to say it's not beautiful?" When he points at the [=VariCorp=] facility, he compliments it for having a multi-purpose shape: a box.

-->--''{{Tagline}}''

Byrne plays a WideEyedIdealist who visits the fictional town of Virgil, Texas, where the Sesquicentennial of the founding of the town and the state of Texas is about to take place. He becomes acquainted with many of Virgil's quirky inhabitants, including a man obsessed with finding a potential bride (Creator/JohnGoodman), a married couple who live together but haven't spoken directly to one another in years, a woman who always lies and rich woman who never gets out of bed. The film's plot is rather minimal, consisting of a series of offbeat, mildly interconnected vignettes covering the lives and personalities of Virgil's residents, leading up to the celebration and it's GrandFinale, a talent show.

* AcCENTUponTheWrongSylLABle: The Narrator and organizers calls the talent show a "Celebration of Special-NESS".

* TheBear: Louis Fyne (Creator/JohnGoodman) often refers to himself as such. In his dating ad, he describes himself as maintaining "a very consistent panda bear shape." His CatchPhrase is even "RAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWR!"

* DesperatelySeekingAPurposeInLife: Related to the Central Theme, everyone in Virgil seems to be looking for something they just can't quite put their finger on. Even Louis is a little off with his goal; while he states he wants matrimony, the spiritual healer remarks Louis has so much love inside him, he has the need to share it with someone else.

* SocietyMarchesOn: Shockingly, no. Aside from some obvious cultural references that were current at the time the film was made, otherwise the film is not dated at all. Even when Earl Culver (played by Spaulding Gray) talks about his employees, DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything
-->'''Earl:''' (Computer engineers) don't work for money anymore, but to earn a place in {{heaven}}, which was a big motivating factor once upon a time, believe you me. They are working and inventing because they like it! Economics has become a spiritual thing. I must admit it frightens me a little bit. They don't seem to see the difference between working and not working. It's all become a part of one's life. Linda! Larry! There's no concept of weekends anymore!

* YourMindMakesItReal: Sort of. The credits close with the line: "IF YOU CAN THINK OF IT, IT EXISTS SOMEWHERE"

* UnexplainedAccent: Other than his being played by Spalding Gray, it's not clear why a Texas industrialist like Earl Culver would have a Rhode Island accent.

* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: Other than his being played by Spalding Gray, there's no real explanation for why a Texas industrialist like Earl Culver would have a Rhode Island accent.

* MusicalWorldHypotheses: The film presents its songs in a bunch of different ways. Two of the songs used are the recordings that Talking Heads made for [[Music/TrueStories the album]]--"Wild Wild Life" is the basis for a lip sync contest at a nightclub, and "Love for Sale" is the song's video being watched on TV by The Lazy Woman. Two of the songs are performed diegetically in-character at the climactic talent show ("Radio Head" by Ramon, "People Like Us" by Louis). The rest are sung by characters as part of the story, like "Dream Operator" sung by Kay Culver at the podium during the fashion show, "Puzzlin' Evidence" by the preacher at his church, "Hey Now" by a group of 4H kids, and "Papa Legba" by Mr. Tucker as he performs a ritual.

* UnbuiltTrope: As a stylized, quirky examination of some of the overlooked nooks and crannies of American culture by an oddball [[FauxlosophicNarration Fauxlosophic Narrator]], but with a somewhat tongue-in-cheek tone, this film could almost be taken as a parody of ''Radio/ThisAmericanLife'' were it not for the fact that it predates it by a decade. A lot of the similarities come down to both works being sort of a [[PostModernism Post-Modern]] take on legendary radio broadcaster Paul Harvey and his downhome Americana (Byrne in fact initially wanted Harvey himself to play the narrator).

The film is considered by many to be a [[SpiritualSuccessor successor]] of sorts to ''Film/{{Nashville}}'', or an off-kilter reimagining of ''Theatre/OurTown'' and[=/=]or ''Literature/DandelionWine''.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: That's band member Jerry Harrison pretending to be Music/{{Prince}} during "Wild Wild Life".

The film is considered by many to be a [[SpiritualSuccessor successor]] of sorts to ''Film/{{Nashville}}'' or an off-kilter reimagining of ''Literature/DandelionWine''.

* ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs: Byrne described the film as "''Series/SixtyMinutes'' on acid."