As long as you stick with the Bible as the final word
on ethics, or of knowing God's principles (as the Pope and Gary do), then we are going to have
folks who feel they are above
dialogue — because why is
dialogue needed if you know God's principle or his Word?
Without such a
dialogue, which is the proper task of theological exegesis, the Christian proclamation would inevitably degenerate
on the lips of men, as in fact it has degenerated in all forms of Christian
folk - religion (superstition).
The most prominent characters include Haven Hamilton (Henry Gibson), a socially conservative, arrogant country music star; Linnea Reese (Lily Tomlin), a gospel singer and mother of two deaf children; Del Reese (Ned Beatty), her lawyer husband and Hamilton's legal representative, who works as the local political organizer for the Tea Party - like Hal Philip Walker Presidential campaign; Opal (Geraldine Chaplin), an insufferably garrulous and pretentious BBC Radio reporter
on assignment in Nashville, or so she claims; talented but self - involved sex - addict Tom Frank (Keith Carradine), one - third of a moderately successful
folk trio who's anxious to launch a solo career; John Triplette (Michael Murphy), the duplicitous campaign consultant who condescendingly tries to secure top Nashville stars to perform at a nationally - syndicated campaign rally; Barbara Jean (Ronee Blakley), the emotionally - fragile, beloved Loretta Lynn - like country star recovering from a burn accident; Barnett (Allen Garfield), Barbara Jean's overwhelmed manager - husband; Mr. Green (Keenan Wynn), whose never - seen ailing wife is
on the same hospital ward as Barbara Jean; groupie Martha (Shelley Duvall), Green's niece, ostensibly there to visit her ailing aunt but so personally irresponsible that she instead spends all her time picking up men; Pfc. Glenn Kelly (Scott Glenn), who claims his mother saved Barbara Jean's life but who mostly seems obsessed with the country music star; Sueleen Gay (Gwen Welles), a waitress longing for country music fame, despite her vacuous talent; Bill and Mary (Allan F. Nicholls and Cristina Raines), the other two - thirds of Tom's
folk act, whose ambition overrides constant personal rancor; Winifred (Barbara Harris), another would - be singer - songwriter, fleeing to Nashville from her working - class husband, Star (Bert Remsen); Kenny Frasier (David Hayward), a loner who rents a room from Mr. Green and carries around a violin case; Bud Hamilton (Dave Peel), the gentle, loyal son of the abrasive Hamilton; Connie White (Karen Black), a glamorous country star who is a last - minute substitute for Barbara Jean at the Grand Old Opry; Wade Cooley (Robert DoQui), a cook at the airport restaurant where Sueleen works as a waitress and who tries unsuccessfully to convince her that she has no talent; and the eccentric Tricycle Man (Jeff Goldblum), who rides around in a three - wheel motorcycle, occasionally interacting with the other characters, showing off his amateur magic tricks, but who has no
dialogue.
The cast, who improvises the
dialogue based
on a plot outline by Guest and Eugene Levy, has some funny bits as they give us the not - so - sordid details of the inner workings of the
folk business, but it's surprising how very little of them are memorable.