True Life: Video Stories

Filmed in the ‘70s, this grab bag of engrossing vignettes was created on writer/producer Scott Jacobs' cross-country trip “searching for the American dream” and “captur[ing] the American spirit.” The assembled short pieces (4-28 minutes each) take viewers on a b&w (with some color sequences) odyssey to a Chicago Golden Gloves exhibition, the Wichita stockyards, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and sundry other cultural hotspots, where just plain folks dripping authenticity discourse on their milieus as the camera takes a relaxed tour of each stop. The plucky young boxers, grizzled Vegas vets, and jaded department store Santa Claus, among others, tell their stories elegantly, while the Golden Gate Park proselytizers remind us what social and cultural protestors were like before WTO-style confrontation became de rigueur. Ultimately, the selling point of this collection is the interesting and idiosyncratic character studies and cultural snapshots it presents--slices of Americana and stories of singular personalities chasing the dream a quarter century ago. Understandably less than sterling in terms of production values, and sporting the unevenness germane to anthologies, True Life: Video Stories is nevertheless a strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (M. Tribby)