The Straight Story [VHS] [1999]

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Throughout IThe Straight Story/I, 73-year-old Alvin Straight (Richard Farnsworth) gazes calmly at the night sky, as if the stars were reflections of his own memories. When he hears his brother Lyle (Harry Dean Stanton), with whom he hasn't spoken in years, is ailing Alvin decides to go visit him and make peace. But since Alvin's eyesight is bad and his daughter (Sissy Spacek) refuses to drive him, he sets out on the 500-mile journey from Laurens, Iowa to Mt. Zion, Wisconsin on a John Deere lawnmower. It's slow going, so there's plenty of time to stop for the night and ponder the cosmos. Along the way, he befriends a variety of nice folks, and you have to ask yourself: is this really a David Lynch movie? p It's a miracle that this wholesome film was made by a director whose work is often described as twisted and bizarre. But Lynch is too complex an artist to be labelled, and he brings charm, grace and kindness to this story based on a newspaper clipping. Moreover, IThe Straight Story/I has a serenity rarely found in movies anymore. It's a film of moments--funny, odd, quietly spiritual--and this simple tale of a man, a lawnmower and rural hospitality becomes a genuine Lynchian odyssey, unlike any film you've seen but as welcoming as a cup of lemon tea with honey. Best of all, it's a fitting tribute to the career of veteran stuntman-actor Farnsworth who, at age 79, plays Alvin Straight to sheer perfection, his face a subtle roadmap to a broad spectrum of emotional destinations. --IJeff Shannon/I

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Customer reviews

review by: Sandman date: 2009-04-06 rating:
He Rode and he Rode and he...........
At the Osacar awards in 2000, Richard Farnsworth was nominated for the best actor award for his role in "The Straight Story"(99). He was 79 years old at the time and was dying of cancer. He lost out to Kevin Spacey in "American Beauty". This was an obvious award for a film that had been a hit, and a great injustice was done. Farnsworth did not get another opportunity for an oscar as he tragically shot himself in the October of that year. His performance in "The Straight Story" is simply magnificent and was his last great performance in one of the most interesting careers in Hollywood. He was a stunt rider who chased and galloped through films like "Gone with the Wind"(39) and "Fort Apache"(48). He taught the city tenderfoot Montgomery Clift how to look and behave like a cowboy in that magnificent epic "Red River"(48). He became an actor by accident when he was asked to do a couple of lines by producer Alan Pakula in Mulligans "The Stalking Moon"(68). Pakula remembered him, and ten years later gave him a larger role in "Comes A Horseman". He was nominated for an oscar as support actor but lost out to Christopher Walken in "The Deer Hunter". No complaints there! He then went on to illuminate many films as a support actor. His one lead role being the Canadian film "The Grey Fox"(82) which is his very finest work. He is simply wonderful in the role of Bill Miner the gentleman bandit. One of the great Westerns, but sadly so little known. One of the more interesting careers in the movies. br / br /"The Straight Story" is a very simple story indeed. It is about Alvin Straight(a real person) an old man in Iowa. Alvin decides very matter of factly, that as he is likely to die anytime he should pay a last visit to his brother in Wisconsin. Just for once Farnsworth does not have a trusty horse to ride. The only thing he has available is a John Deere tractor. So off he sets on a journey of hundreds of miles down back roads. As you will have gathered this is not your average road movie. Mostly it is about the people he meets, his relationship with his simple daughter played by Sissy Spacek, and ultimately with his brother who turns out to be Harry Dean Stanton. The film is a moving study of aging and relationships. David Lynch is to be applauded for making such a fine and unusual film. It is the finest work of his distinguished career. br /

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review by: date: 2008-06-05 rating:
A film about real people
Of course, the five-star rating here is a personal appraisal. This is not mainstream Hollywood and, in the opinion of this writer, is better for it. Had this been in any other language other than English, it would be regarded as one of the outstanding foreign films in cinema history. It is, after all, about beautiful people from the inside. A philosophical compendium based on the wisdom drawn from life experience and reflection. Just look into the eyes of Alvin as he speaks.

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review by: date: 2008-05-14 rating:
Slow Lane Blues
I was afraid that this tale of someone driving a lawnmower across part of the USA would be dull. It is not dull. The story is that an elderly, poor man, living with his slightly handicapped daughter (well played by Sissy Spacek) in (very) small town Iowa discovers that his brother has suffered a stroke in neighbouring Wisconsin. Unwilling to travel by bus and without a car, he adapts a ride-on lawnmower for the trip! He encounters interesting and odd people, some very pleasant and helpful ones among them. Eventually he reaches his destination. br / br /This is very much a film where the important part of the journey is the travelling and not the arriving. It is a lot more compelling than you think it will be before you watch the whole of it. The amazing thing about it is that I believe that it is closely based on a real story and many of the locations used and credited at the end are those actually visited in the real-life journey. Certainly worth a look.

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review by: date: 2007-11-20 rating:
What's the worst thing about being old, Alvin?
Asks one of a group of cyclists of the central character in this quiet, classy film. 'Being able to remember when you were young' answers Alvin wryly. Alvin, whose health is failing, dispenses small, simple nuggets of wisdom throughout the film, but they never come across as cloying or corny. br / br /I am not a fan of David Lynch films at all, and recorded this to watch if I had nothing better to do. Come a cold, rainy November day, I settled down to watch and, like most other reviewers here, saw two hours of a slow-paced, somewhat melancholy, yet deeply heartwarming and gentle-humoured film whizz by, and wished there were more of it. br / br /You'll read a synopsis of the plot elsewhere, and it's not a complicated plot (based on a real life story), so the brilliant acting and cinematography are what will make this film stay with you and make you want to see it again. Every performance, even the very minor characters, rings true, and there are deeply moving moments when Alvin reflects out loud on his life and swaps war experiences with another veteran of WWII. br / br /Visually, the film is like a little love poem to the rural upper Midwest; incredible sunsets, lightening storms, golden wheatfields stretching in every direction, night skies full of stars, lovely small towns set amongst autumn foliage. br / br /I don't know what David Lynch fans would make of this untypical film, but those, like me, who find his films too 'out there' will be very pleasantly surprised. I only wish I could award it more than five stars. Absolutely superb.


review by: date: 2007-07-16 rating:
David Lynch can make Beautiful Movies too
The Straight Story is a film about an old man named Alvin Straight who hasn't talked to his brother Lyle in ten years because they said some "unforgiving things to one another." He finds out that his estranged brother is dying and he decides to make amends and say good-bye. He drives hundreds of miles with a giant trailer attached to a lawn mower. The story is based on facts. br / br /David Lynch is known for his cutting edge, bizarre and perplexing mysteries but when taken into account with all his other films The Straight Story (and it's unusual G-rating) should be no surprise. Lynch went from the completely off-the-wall horror Eraserhead to in my opinion one of the most touching films ever made in The Elephant Man. He is no stranger to drama and it manifests itself in varying depths in every one of his films. It often shows up in the most surprising of places. Lynch is acclaimed and credited more after Mulholland Dr., however, in many years from now he will get many of the same accolades that guys like Stanley Kubrick do now for films like this one. Lynch is a master of his craft and among the best American Directors of our time. It sounds like a bold statement now but the years will tell. I for one will argue his films are timeless. br / br /The Straight Story unfolds at a snail's pace and plays the most straight forward formulas to the tee...I'm not saying that as a drawback but it may not be for everyone. It is the perfect environment for Lynch to show he can direct a great drama with a narrative and some older actors like Richard Farnsworth (excellent as the likeable Alvin Straight) and briefly Harry Dean Stanton as Lyle. Sissy Spaceck is also excellent as Alvin's daughter. If I were to list the most touching sequences in film for me, two come from Lynch films. One scene being when John Merrick is well received by Dr. Treves' wife in the Elephant Man, and the other being a scene from The Straight Story. The scene starts off as a sort of comical and lighthearted part in the movie where twins work on Alvin's broken down lawnmower and they fight while they are doing it. It almost seems like Lynch is being exploitative at first here, but he makes you relate tremendously and feel for these two brothers (especially if you're a twin or have a brother close in age like me). It's so simple but Lynch really has created as likeable a character as you can get in Farnsworth's Straight. Another touching scene is when Alvin is asked by a few bikers what the worst thing is about growing old and he replies "remembering when I was young" with a proud smile. Farnsworth's recent death makes this statement even harder. The comment is layered but comes off as simple like the rest of this amazing film. br / br /Mary Sweeny and John Roach deserve just as much if not more credit for writing this screenplay. I hate giving too much credit to the director but Lynch deserves to be lauded for simply taking on such a pure and uninviting project. The films his real fans appreciate are for the most part on the other side of the spectrum. It seems risky if it were not for the fact that Lynch is pretty much famous for not giving a damn about risks. However, Lynch is the kind of filmmaker who is capable of creating the most profound kind of drama, but mostly his films are viewed as guilty of shock and not seen far beyond that. When Kubrick began creating his films I'm quite sure many people did the same thing. Lynch is a filmmaking wizard and one of these days the whole world will recognize it.

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