Review of The Straight Story (1999) by Stephen H — 18 Jan 2012

This is probably the strangest, weirdest David Lynch movie. "Sean, David Lynch movies are weird and strange. How can this be weirder?" you might be asking. It is strange because it's, well, normal and linear.

The Straight Story is, easily, the sweetest and most heartfelt David Lynch movie ever. The highlight is, without a doubt, Richard Farnsworth's powerful and touching performance. This is accented by the memorable characters he meets along the way and the gorgeous imagery Lynch provides throughout.

Based on a true story, The Straight Story follows the story of Alvin Straight, a no-nonsense good ol' boy who is losing his eyesight and the use of his knees, and his journey across Iowa and Wisconsin to see his brother and make amends before it is too late.

Without being able to drive a car, and too proud to accept help or take a bus, he opts for rigging up his old John Deere lawnmower with a trailer and riding that to see his estranged brother. Along the way, he meets several people on the road and has an impact on all their lives.

The driving force behind the movie is Richard Farnsworth's deservedly Oscar-nominated performance. He is as sweet as he is proud and his performance really struck a personal chord with me. He actually seems like a close relative or the sweet old man down the street.

While Farnsworth takes the lead, the supporting characters really move the film along. Sissy Spacek is a real sweetheart as Alvin's mentally handicapped daughter. There are also several other characters he meets along the way, a girl who ran away from home because she is pregnant, the man who helps him fix his lawnmower, and, of course, "the blink and you might miss him" Harry Dean Stanton as Alvin's brother.

Lynch also put together some gorgeous shots to accompany the storyline. Periodically, he incorporates shots of the night sky which invokes a dream-like quality to the story, which matches perfectly with Lynch's motif.

Shots of the scenery loom with an omnipresence over the entire film and really put you in the Midwest during the autumn season. It is weird that Lynch directed a movie so straight-forward, linear, and sweet.

Very un-Lynchian. Lynch, himself, said that he "fell in love with the emotion of the script." And emotional it is. It is a very heart-warming and sweet tale from an unlikely source (a collaboration between David Lynch and Walt Disney? Seriously?).

It is very lovely film and a beautiful story with great acting, a wonderful supporting cast, and gorgeous imagery.