Nashville

"You get your hair cut; you don't belong in Nashville" —Haven Hamilton

A 1975 film directed by Robert Altman. It boasts a huge ensemble cast of 24 - count 'em, 24 - main characters, and follows them around over the course of five days in the country music capital.

There is no exact definition of who's a main character and who's not, but here are the ones that get the most screen time:

• Barbara Jean (Ronee Blakley), the darling of the country music world. She's frail, lonely, and emotionally spent, but tries to keep a smile on anyway. She's responsible for more than a few of the movie's best musical moments. Also, she gets assasinated in the end. Blakley got a Best Supporting Actress nom for her performance.
• Haven Hamilton (Henry Gibson), an aging, egotistical country music legend with political aspirations.
• Barnett (Allen Garfield), Barbara Jean's emotionally abusive manager/husband. A Col. Parker type, he's more interested in his wife's career than his wife's crumbling sanity.
• Linnea Reese (Lily Tomlin), a middle-aged gospel singer/housewife stuck with an inept husband and two deaf kids. She is torn between loyalty to her Homer Simpson-esque spouse and the advances of a charming womanizer. Tomlin also got a Best Supporting Actress nod for this.
• Tom Frank (Keith Carradine), one-third of the rock trio Bill, Mary, and Tom.

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This film provides examples of:

• As Himself: Elliott Gould and Julie Christie appear as themselves in different scenes. The actors happened to be visiting the set when Altman decided to use them for Throw It In cameos.
• Chekhov's Gun: Kenny's violin case which turns out to hold a gun.
• Credits Gag: The film opens with a fake commercial for its own soundtrack album, with the cast members' names ("Twenty-four of your favorite stars!") being rattled off by a motormouthed voiceover announcer in the manner of an old K-Tel spot.
• The Danza: Timmy Brown as Tommy Brown.
• The Ditz: Opal and Sueleen.
• Jerkass: Haven Hamilton pretty much acts like a pompous, arrogant narcissist for most of the film.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: On the other hand, he's pretty supportive of his son. Also, his actions at the rally after Barbara Jean and himself are shot speak for themselves:

Haven Hamilton: This is Nashville! This ain't Dallas, this is Nashville! They can't do this to us here in Nashville! Come on, sing! Sing, somebody, sing! I'm fine, I'm fine. You sing!

• Ladykiller in Love: Tom falls in love with Linnea, but she rejects him after they sleep together and leaves.
• Loads and Loads of Characters
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Several of the characters are thinly-veiled expies of real life country music stars of the era: Barbara Jean (Loretta Lynn), Haven Hamilton (Porter Wagoner), Tommy Brown (Charley Pride), Connie White (Lynn Anderson), and Bill, Mary & Tom (Peter, Paul & Mary).
• Stepford Smiler: Barbara Jean, Type A.
• The Voice: Presidential candidate Hal Philip Walker.