Review of The Straight Story (1999) by Manicure — 22 Nov 2020

David Lynch's first mainstream film since "The Elephant Man" is a down-to-earth yet extremely heartwarming story. The austerity of the script and cinematography is strictly functional to the realistic portrait of Alvin Straight. Both the anguish and wisdom that come with aging are conveyed without getting idealized or overly sentimental. However, the film still retains a poetic nature as Alvin crosses the country seeking redemption like some kind of retired western hero on his old horse. Richard Farnsworth's natural performance and deep watery eyes really brought the character to life.

The only letdown was maybe the ending. I liked how it was kept as un-cinematic as the rest of the film, but a couple of more words between Alvin and Lyle wouldn't hurt.