Nashville

Following 24 characters through 5 days in the country music capital, Robert Altman's 1975 epic presents a complexly textured portrayal (and critique) of American obsessions with celebrity and power. Among the various stars, aspirants, hangers-on, observers, and media folk are politically ambitious country icon Haven Hamilton and his fragile star protegée Barbara Jea; Tom, a self-absorbed rock star who woos lonely married gospel singer Linnea Reese; Sueleen Gay, a talentless waitress painfully humiliated at her first singing gig; Albuquerque, a runaway wife with dreams of stardom; nightclub owner Lady Pearl, who reminisces about "those Kennedy boys"; single-minded groupie L.A. Joan; vapid BBC commentator Opal; and campaign guru John Triplette, who is trying to organize a concert rally for the unseen but always heard populist presidential candidate-cum-demagogue Hal Phillip Walker.