The Straight Story

A Straight Story

A movie by David Lynch

With Richard Farnsworth, Sissy Spacek, James Cada

Christina says:

Alvin Straight (Robert Farnsworth) is 79 years old and lives in a small town in Iowa. When his brother Lyle, with whom he hasn't spoken for 10 years, suffers a stroke he wants to visit him to straighten out things between them. But there is a problem. Lyle lives in Wisconsin, more than 400 miles away, and Alvin doesn't drive anymore because he has bad eyes. He also is a pretty pigheaded fellow who values his independence, so he builds a trailer for his lawnmower and sets off with his unusual vehicle. The first try doesn't take him very far, but an Alvin Straight isn't discouraged so easily. He buys a new lawnmower and tries again, and thus starts an extraordinary journey through the American hinterland, far off from the beaten tracks your average tourist is likely to follow.

Alvin Straight is a real person. Scriptwriter Mary Sweeney discovered the story of his unusual journey in 1994 in the New York Times. According to the official website of the movie the film was shot in more or less the same time frame as the journey of the real Alvin. The result is a calm, mature movie that doesn't look like anything I have seen done by David Lynch so far.

THE STRAIGHT STORY has two things going for it: the expressive imagery and the quiet dignified acting of Robert Farnsworth. His Alvin Straight doesn't have to spout platitudes to prove that he is wise. It is important for him to achieve his goal without help. Thanks to Farnsworth Alvin never seems ridiculous when he rides along on his funny little machine.

The first camera swipe over Alvin's hometown tells the viewers everything they need to know without a single word. Here nobody is ever in a hurry and nobody expects anything out of the ordinary to happen. And even if it does that's not likely to disturb the townspeople's calm.

After meeting Alvin and his slightly retarded daughter Rose (Sissy Spacek) we go on the journey with him. It takes a while to get used to the speed of the lawnmower that can be passed effortlessly even on bicycle. Once you have adapted to the slow speed the mower races down a slope. For one short moment you get the impression to sit in an out-of-control racecar. Speed is relative. Seen from the side of the road even that was a pretty leisurely ride.

Even if Alvin meets friendly people along the road on his idyllic trip who help him out when he's in trouble, the movie never sinks to the level of a kitschy idealization of country life. You can learn a lot from Alvin's story, and he shares his wisdom with the people he meets, but we are never bombarded with pushing moralistic sermons. A STRAIGHT STORY is a pensive movie about life and aging with a rare and special hero.

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Christina Gross

Last changes: 01/04/03