I appreciate the authentic feel (filmed on location with real residents, real Texans etc.) and the lack of hollywood feel in this movie. Filmed in 22 days too which is remarkable. Unlike most films that just exploit murders and murderers this film seemed to tell it pretty well. Even if it upset people, Mrs. Nugent did have the great Shirley Mclaine playing her. :)
"the day I tried to live, I learned that I was alive"
yes i have met many people like the ones in this film.
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Being British, I didn't know how authentic the film was so it's good to know that it captured Texans accurately. This may be a silly question, but were the people interviewed throughout the film actors or were they real people from the town? I noticed one of the women was called McConaughey and I wondered if she was Matthew McConaughey's mum. She seemed to be the most glamorous-looking of all the townspeople.
I thought it was great to see an American film that portrayed people realistically and not the Hollywood-pretty sort of people that are shown in most movies. That bit where the guy described the different bits of Texas and what he thought about each area and its people was hilarious.
Yeah most of the interviews were completely real and that's why the movie was made so quickly (only 22 days). That's also why some of it is so funny I think. Old people say the darndest things about eachother. The woman may have been a Mcconaughey, but I'm not sure.
"the day I tried to live, I learned that I was alive"
They were brilliant! I had a quick look at the cast list and it turns out that one of the people is his mum - Kay McConaughey.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm5246255/
She's the very thin lady who was sat with another younger woman who kept laughing at everything she said. I think that's what got me wondering whether they were all actors.
The movie did really capture the persona of typical East Texans but the interviews weren't "completely real." One of my elementary school teachers was in it and said she went to a casting call. We live in a town in East Texas, but not Carthage. Apparently they got people from surrounding areas to do readings for the various interviews.
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Not all Texans are like this though. I live near Dallas - and we don't drive Mercedes and we also don't wear cowboy hats and talk with a twang. Just some of the people do. I wasn't born here, but have lived here 10+ years and the stereotypes thought of Texas aren't always true.
shareBUT, there are a lot of people like these people. I'm from Longview, living in Seattle.
shareYes, as a Southerner (but not a Texan), I get SO TIRED of Hollywood actors botching Southern accents and especially ways of talking, mannerisms, etc. I could tell instantly that these people were genuine and at first thought "they have SO nailed it" until I realized that they are actual residents of the town--good for the producers for using them!
shareYeah it's fairly accurate. I have spent some time in deep east Texas and I could imagine any one of the people I knew from there saying the same stuff-even that double wide crack that made me laugh so hard.
Edit: "'Preciate ya." Totally accurate.
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Having grown up in an area just like that, in TX, I thought the accents were spot on. And obviously they were, since they used local people. I was just amazed by this movie. I guess it's true what they say about truth being stranger than fiction.
shareThe accents and attitudes are total East Texas. Nothing forced. But if it was in Austin, most, especially the younger ones would sound southern Californian.
Shirley MacLaine's house in the movie belongs to longtime friends of my mom's and is off MacNeil Dr. in Austin. Notice there's no pine trees around?