Review of The Straight Story (1999) by Ad B — 26 Aug 2008

Wow. This was a lot better than I expected. I knew it would be good but I had been putting it off for years because, well, its about a guy who travels on a tractor. It sounded unbearably slow and not really my thing. But the more it went on the more captivated I was by it. There were a lot of things I had wanted to say about it but my mind is failing me right now. Its weird that Lynch made this. THere were times that he made inspired shoices that felt like him but a lot more subtle but in general it did not feel like Lynch movie very much at all. A few things did but very few. The screenplay is one of the greatest ever and ironically its the only one Lynch did not write. Its beautiful in a very simple way. There were several pieces of dialogue which I felt very much, not ony because of the writing but because of the way Richard Farnsworth delivers his lines with simplicity and depth and also because you know that he as a person very much was relating to much of the dialogue at the time. Among my favorite lines were:

Alvin Straight: You don't think about getting old when you're young... you shouldn't.

Cyclist #1: Must be something good about gettin' old?

Alvin Straight: Well I can't imagine anything good about being blind and lame at the same time but, still at my age I've seen about all that life has to dish out. I know to separate the wheat from the chaff, and let the small stuff fall away.

Cyclist #2: So, uh, what's the worst part about being old, Alvin?

Alvin Straight: Well, the worst part of being old is rememberin' when you was young.

Alvin Straight: Anger, vanity, you mix that together with liquor, you've got two brothers that haven't spoken in ten years. Ah, whatever it was that made me and Lyle so mad... don't matter anymore. I want to make peace, I want to sit with him, look up at the stars... like we used to do, so long ago.

There are certain moments and scenes that struck me and I just very much felt them. When the phone rings and Rose goes to pick it up and the camera stays on Alvin and its raining and he knows its a bad phone call. When Alvin talks about how Rose's daughters were taken away from her and we see her face. The scene when Alvin flies down the hill and almost dies and his reaction to it afterwards. The scene that he talks about his traumatic war experience. The scene when he is going over the Mississippi River and just looks so happy to be experiencing something. The scene when he talks to the priest and finally the perfect perfect ending. The movie said so much without saying it in a hackneyed, overly sentimental heavy handed and overdone way. It kept to the basics. Richard Farnsworth gives a beautiful poigant performance and Sissy Spacek is also really great. I highly recommend this. I can't believe I'm saying this but I'd like to see it again eventually. It holds so many lovely and true moments that just don't feel artificial. This movie shows the people that don't like typical Lynch that he is capable of making a different type of film without any sort of trickery. If other David Lynch films aren't your thing see this one and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.