The Straight Story (1999)
Now here’s another movie where the director makes all the difference. Based on its screenplay, The Straight Story would be in precarious danger of becoming a dreaded Clever Comedy. Virtually everyone in the film is in some way quirky or eccentric, and a lot of the humor is based on the strange things they do.
But The Straight Story is directed by David Lynch, who at first glance does not seem right for this material. His films tend to be about the dark underbelly of humanity, with a lot of content that might be considered to be creepy. There’s nothing creepy in this movie, but there’s a lot of great stuff.
The movie is based on a true story of Alvin Straight (Richard Farnsworth), a 73-year old Iowa man who learns one day that his brother (Harry Dean Stanton), who lives in Wisconsin, has had a stroke. The brothers have been estranged for years, and Alvin knows that he must see him and make amends, as he may not have much time left to make up. Unfortanley, he has trouble seeing and doesn’t have a driver’s license. His daughter (Sissy Spacek) who he lives with, can’t drive take off from work to drive him, but that’s okay- he wants to go by himself. So he decides to go on his riding lawnmower, maximum speed: 5 mph. This means a trip that by car would take a two days and a night becomes an endeavor that takes months.
This is could very easily descend into a “hip” Little Miss Sunshine type-road movie with a cranky old man getting into amusing hijinks. But although the movie is episodic, it’s appeal is based on Lynch’s real sympathy and affection for Alvin, realized by Farnsworth’s wonderful, Oscar nominated performance. Occasionally, this the movie falls into the trap of treating the old man like a sage, such as the scene where he comforts a teenage runaway (Anastaia Webb).
But most of the time The Straight Story is an easygoing, beautiful film. The Midwest has rarely seemed more beautiful, and I was surprised at how much reverence Lynch has for the area and these characters. The Straight Story is not David Lynch’s best film, although it’s very good, but it’s his most honest and straightforward.