Throughout The Straight Story, 73-year-old Alvin
Straight (Richard Farnsworth) gazes calmly at the night sky, as if the stars
were reflections of his own memories. Alvin's eyesight is bad and his
daughter (Sissy Spacek) is slightly retarded and unable to drive, so he's
traveling from Laurens, Iowa to Mt. Zion, Wisconsin on a riding John Deere
lawn mower. It's slow going, so there's plenty of time to stop for the night
and ponder the cosmos. Alvin's journeying to visit his ailing brother; they
haven't spoken in years, and it's time to make peace. Along the way, he
befriends a variety of nice folks, and you have to ask yourself... Is this
really a David Lynch movie?
It's a miracle that this G-rated Disney film was made by a director whose
work is often described as twisted and bizarre. But Lynch is too complex an
artist to be labeled, and he brings charm, grace, and kindness to his
fact-based telling of The Straight Story--not to mention 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. --Jeff Shannon