Movie Notes: The Straight Story
= 4 stars
Starring Richard Farnsworth, Sissy Spacek, Everett McGill
Directed by David Lynch
Synopsis
73 year old Alvin Straight (Richard Farnsworth) learns his brother Lyle, who lives in Wisconsin, has had a stroke. Lacking a driver’s license, Alvin purchases a riding lawnmower and sets off on a very slow road trip across the American Midwest.
The Good
- One aspect of Twin Peaks were occasional, long scenes with old people. The Straight Story focuses on those oldsters. Small details prove endearing and entertaining, such as the nervous clerk who is reluctant to sell his “grabber” and the main character’s stubborn determination and self-reliance in the face of all logic.
- Glories in the simple, matter of fact, yet practical nature of the Midwest. Once Alvin starts off on this trip, his steadfast determination keeps him going despite insurmountable odds.
- Moments of inspired film making. Lynch has a way of making even the simplest of subjects seem slightly askew and therefore interesting. A camera pulling away from Sissy Spacek standing between two houses, a lawnmower hurtling past a house on fire, or two twins dressed exactly the same, struggling to tally up a bill.
The Bad
- Long stretches of dull, mundane happenings.
- The ending is a bit anti-climactic, but then again, what would you expect, given the set-up?
Conclusion
Take Twin Peaks and remove all the darkness and soap opera stuff, leaving the small-town admiration and kooky characters, and you get The Straight Story. Surprisingly, it works very well. In a strange way, it’s the polar opposite of There Will Be Blood but with a similar attention to detail and languid mood. Recommended.
IMDB: The Straight Story
Wikipedia: The Straight Story
Rotten Tomatoes: The Straight Story
This is a heart-warming story. It’s hard to believe that this was directed by the same David Lynch who did “Blue Velvet.”
I always loved Richard Farnsworth but this post prompted me to IMDb him and I was especially sad to learn that he’s been gone for over 8 years — I didn’t realize he had passed away. By the way, for another great movie with this gentle actor, I recommend The Grey Fox.
Yeah, this is a very different movie subject-matter wise than Lynch’s
other work, but there are some elements here that I think have their
seed in Twin Peaks (as noted above). Anyhow, I’ll have to check out
The Grey Fox — I’d like to see more of Farnsworth.
This is a very different movie subject-matter wise. It must be quite emotional movie and have an interesting story also.
Loved this movie. I like that Lynch did a “straight” movie for a change. Put this in your Netflix Q