Review of The Straight Story (1999) by Zora K — 20 Jan 2011

Based on a true story, The Straight Story is about an elderly man's journey to reconcile with his brother. Alvin Straight (Richard Farnsworth) is a widower in his 70's living with in Laurens, Iowa with his daughter Rose (Sissy Spacek), who has a speech deficiency. Despite suffering from a bad hip and emphysema, Alvin does not trust doctors. One day the phone rings and learns that his brother Lyle (Harry Dean Stanton) has suffered a stroke and may not live long. He and his brother haven't spoken to each other in ten years, which Alvin says is mainly due to having pride mixed with alcohol; but Alvin wants to make amends with his brother before it's too late. Lyle, however, lives in Wisconsin, Alvin has little money, bad eye sight, no car, and no driver's license so he decides to hop on his lawn mower attached to a trailer and travel all the way to Wisconsin, hoping he'll make it in time to see his brother. He encounters an array of different characters making new friends with them and giving lots of helping incite on life to them. Despite all the mechanical breakdowns, he refuses to give up his journey.

Being that this is a G-rated movie that was produced by Disney, one wouldn't expect that it was directed by the great, weird filmmaker David Lynch. However, the odd choice by him to direct this film was absolutely perfect. It shows that surreal weirdness isn't all David Lynch knows how to do. What we get is a very straightforward story about an ailing elderly man trying to see his brother who he hasn't seen in ten years. There's no mystery, no dread, no good vs. evil, just a plain and simple story. One that is incredibly moving. Despite the subject matter, the tone and pacing is pure Lynchian. The film shows just as much sympathy towards the characters as any of Lynch's past characters and that is the key the greatness that is this film. Richard Farnsworth gives an extraordinarily subtle and moving performance as Alvin Straight. His incredibly nuanced performance just gives his character so much depth. Knowing that he was going through leukemia and in his final stages of his own life gives his performance even more power.

There are three scenes in the film that stand out the most. The first of which is where he and another elderly man in town reminisce on when they were in the war against the Nazis where we find out that Alvin had not only been an alcoholic, but also been a sniper in the war where one night he made the mistake of shooting one of his own men and he was the only one that knew he had did it and not a Nazi sniper. Later on there is also a scene with a priest in a cemetery where he tells him about him and his brother and why they stopped speaking to one another. Finally, there is the final scene where he sees his brother and you can tell that both are happy and relieved to finally see each other. It's really moving, you just can't help but shed some tears.

On the technical side of things, the cinematography and Angelo Badalamenti's music are wonderful; the transitioning shots of the fields and the long, unending roads with the music playing is beautiful to behold.

I think The Straight Story would make a great companion piece to Wim Wenders' road movie Paris, Texas as both deal with family and take place a great deal on the road, but most of all both of these films are incredibly moving pieces of cinema. The Straight Story is a film I can recommend to everybody. I don't think there are too many people that would not appreciate this story whether you're a fan of David Lynch or not. It is an extraordinary film. 10/10.