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When "The Straight Story" came out in 1999, I did not pay it much heed. A film about a man driving across state? And David Lynch did this? David Lynch???????? The film kept getting good notices and I was still skeptical, even when Richard Farnsworth, a fine actor, received a Best Actor Oscar nomination. He was beaten out by Kevin Spacey in "American Beauty," another fine performance that offered for me another skewered view on suburbia.
"The Straight Story" is perhaps David Lynch's most accessible film. Even if you are not studying the Lynch canon, as I am, the film is worth seeing.
And its basis is truth. In 1994. an elderly man named Alvin Straight (the film's title has a double meaning with Straight being both the family name and the path he seems to embark on) sets out from Laurens, Iowa to his brother's home in Mt. Zion, Wisconsin. The brother had a stroke, the two have not spoken in ten years, and Alvin, a recovering alcoholic, wants to set out to make peace.
Farnsworth is perfectly cast as Alvin. He is elderly, has poor vision, and diabetes. He is not allowed to drive but wants to make this journey. His daughter, Rose, who, as discovered from Spacek's radiant performance is a functional special needs woman who lives with him, and loves him fiercely, disapproves, as I would, but he is determined He sets out with just a riding lawn mower, and a small trailer attached, for storage and sleeping quarters. Enroute, the mover breaks down, and he has to go back home, where he now buys a tractor, and with this makes the journey. Along the way he meets friendly people who come to his aid, a pregnant young woman, and a hysterical woman who accidentally hit a deer, which Alvin cooks for dinner; he is that rugged and rustic.
Now, how does all this fit in with the world of David Lynch? Well, it is kind of like "Blue Velvet" in slow motion. Lynch reality is discarded for earth reality, but trademarks of his pop up now and then, like truly artistic shots of the farmlands, cloud formations in the sky suggesting the opening credits of "The Wizard Of Oz," and most importantly, recurring shots of fire, whether it is an abandoned barn burning down or lighting a cigar, or an evening campfire. That element, a key in all of Lynch's films, is ever present. So is the idea of a road trip, which harkens back to "Lost Highway," "Wild At Heart," and even the 'joy ride" Frank Booth takes Jeffrrey Beaumont on midway through "Blue Velvet."
Yet, for all this, "The Straight Story" is inspirational to the point of being almost spiritual. Though Harry Dean Stanton barely says a word as sibling Lyle, his performance is transporting, and the sight of them sitting on Lyle's porch--his house looks like something out of 'L'il Abner"--is tranquilizing and the film ends on tis note.
Kudos must also go to Freddie Francis' excellent cinematography, which perfectly falls in with Lynch's visual concepts and conceits.
I think Lynch tapped into his Midwestern background to show the beauty that exist6s beside the underbelly he is always going after to expose. Credit must be given to all the actors, and what Lynch elicits from each; extra credit for Farnsworth, who shot this while battling cancer, which led him to end his life a year later.
The film is some kind of legacy to both Lynch and Farnsworth. It is not to be missed, and I want to see more Criterion Closet visitors choose this.
David Lynch usually blows the viewer away with the underbelly of reality. Here he achieves the same results with actual reality.
The man had more range than one knew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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