sydney’s review published on Letterboxd:
At one point during this film, the camera follows a lone sheet of newspaper floating across the lawns of some bland suburban houses. David Byrne narrates: "Look at that - who can say it isn't beautiful?", and through the eyes of TRUE STORIES, it is. It's a sort of meditation on progress, told with one of the most natural and unforced displays of strangeness I've ever seen. Gone is the underlying fear and cynicism of a lot of Talking Heads' music, replaced by an almost childlike sense of wonder and excitement for the future - the future of technology, the future of love, the way our lives might change for the better.
Watching TRUE STORIES as a kid might be the reason why I now loathe most of the "quirky" or "whimsical" films that have plagued us for the last 10 or 15 years. I mean, I love Wes Anderson a lot, but even he gets on my nerves sometimes. Those little indie cutesy films seems so orchestrated, a self-indulgent display of how "weird" the director is. That doesn't mean there aren't occasionally good movies made by good directors, only that to me it is so obvious what they are trying so desperately to accomplish. What I love about TRUE STORIES is its happiness, its honesty, its bold-faced joy without a trace of insincerity. I've seen this movie about a hundred thousand times, and I still laugh out loud at my favorite parts - the facial expressions, the bizarre lines delivered with the straightest of faces ("It's a multipurpose shape - a box"), the concept of the entire thing and the innocent tenderness of the people. It is so unashamed to just be funny and, well, CUTE - but it never spirals into some sort of corny or obnoxious manipulation. At a time when it's pretty hip to be a nihilistic asshole, this film is like a glorious breath of sweet Texas air. This movie is weird as hell, almost indescribable and unlike anything I've ever seen, but the ease with which it comes together makes it look like the most normal thing in the world.
A celebration of specialness indeed.