Cheap True Stories (DVD) (David Byrne) (David Byrne) Price

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Customer Reviews of True Stories

Deep in the heart of Irony
Talking Heads frontman David Byrne follows trailblazer Kinky Friedman (the original New Yawk musician/raconteur to enter the Lone Star state of mind) with this subtly satirical Texas travelogue from 1986. It is no easy task to pigeonhole "True Stories"- part social satire, part long-form music video, part mockumentary. Fans of droll humor (and Byrne's art-school sensibilities) will enjoy the film. The episodic vignettes about the quirky but generally likable inhabitants of sleepy Virgil, Texas should hold your fascination once you buy into "tour-guide" Byrne's bemused anthropological detachment (some might say, "conceit", but there is no detectable mean-spiritedness here). The pseudo-documentary approach and low-ley ensemble performances presages (by a good 10-15 years) the gently satirical "mockumentaries" Christopher Guest & Co. have become so synonymous with. The excellent cinematography seems to get overlooked by reviewers and is worth a mention. The DVD transfer is not as dismal as some would lead you to believe, although I would agree that it is a shame that "pan and scan" is the only format currently offered (but for such a low list price, there is not much room for complaint). The audio is quite adequate. Fans of the obscure and offbeat will rejoice.

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Byrne's Loveable Musical Excursion
A post modern musical collage, this is one of those films you either love or hate. To those like myself who don't mind an occassional quirky film that doesn't follow standard plot elements, this is a treasure. With odd middle American characters breaking into joyous Talking Head numbers, there is something none but the most cynical among us won't like. It is also deeply funny if you consider the characters: The lonely overweight computer engineer (John Goodman) who uses technology to seek a wife (this movie is pre-internet mind you), the equally lonely television dependent millionairess who never leaves her majestic suburban Texas home or bed for that matter, or the cheerful middle class couple who haven't spoken to eachother in years using their kids to communicate and many others. Byrne treats his characters and the monotonous Texas town with the boarded-up-mainstreet-but-burgeoning-tech-sector with equal parts ridicule and affection. They are exaggerated representations of the Middle America we all know and love (or hate). The film is also a commentary on how technology and the media have forever negatively altered our social linkages. I loved it nonetheless.

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Excellent casting of David Byrne/Spalding Gray fantasy
Who would have thought that Byrne and the Talking Heads would make such a sweet movie? It's a satire, of course, but the characters, rather than being ridiculed, are adorable. The perfect casting and relaxed pace give it just the right documentary feel, Byrne's reedy narration gives it just the right edge, and the story line plays out nicely. It's very watchable.

Listenable, too. The songs are a blast, whether lip-synched by the 'locals' hilariously or sung by the cast. The Talking Heads as the backing band for the songs are terrific, with some gorgeous pedal steel guitar thrown in.

For Spalding Gray fans, it is a classic performance, if brief.

Worth buying, even though it's not widescreen and has no special features, because you will play it again and again.