The Straight Story
Reviewed by Steve Baliko

Have you ever stretched out in your back yard on a warm summer night and let yourself dissolve into the grass and let your mind dance slowly through the vast wash of stars above your head? The smiling serenity of that memory is one sustained and deepened by David Lynch's most recent film, The Straight Story. I can't stop thinking about this movie. Lynch is well known for his theatre-of-the-bizarre and his fascination with small- town America. Before this film, the words compassionate, tender, heartwarming, and refreshing were not the ones used to refer to his work. But in this movie, Lynch reveals yet another facet of his brilliant command of cinema. The plot is simple; the setting is ordinary; the characters are authentic; the story is true.

Alvin Straight, portrayed masterfully by Richard Farnsworth, was a real man who took a real trip on his lawn mower more than 250 miles to visit his sick, estranged brother in 1997. Don't expect anything other than real life to occur in this movie. If you do, you will be disappointed and will miss the amazing power of the ordinary. Lynch himself describes this movie as "a very slow road movie." But how fast does one get from Iowa to Wisconsin on a lawn tractor?

The Straight Story defies Hollywood and the movie industry by being profoundly beautiful in a sea of voyeuristic, egocentric fluff. Most films succeed (if this is any kind of success at all) in asking for our trust and then dashing it (and us) on the rocks of impropriety. Watching this film, I was overcome with peace, rest, sincerity, and safety. Perhaps that is why I sat in theater for close to twenty minutes after the final scene...unable and unwilling to break the spell. Lest anyone poo-poo this reviewer as a sentimentalist blathering over a boring movie, let me reassure you that this film does not portray a naive or idealistic view of life. Alcoholism, war, teen pregnancy, ignorance, despair, hope, truth, murder, motherhood, illness, aging, and ambition all touch various characters' lives. Each new person and new circumstance, no matter how ordinary, pulls the audience towards the inescapable conclusion that life is lived where you are--and that is all you've got. No escapism, no avoidance: Life is what it is.

Jack Fisk, the film's art director, creates a wonderful sense of the slowness of the journey and the ability to be captivated with the trip. Broad sweeps of clouds, trees, fields, and the road help us join the deliberate rhythm of the film. The choice to film much of the movie in Alvin Straight's actual hometown and even to use his house at times helps the viewer identify with the location. 

The film is propelled by a fantastic soundtrack of original pieces composed by Angelo Badalamenti. His deep, brooding, and soothing composition creates a stunning sense of purpose and motion. Badalamenti is to be commended for a precision of spirit that rivals Lynch's visual feat.

I am purposefully excluding most of the details of The Straight Story for two simple reasons: the unfolding of poignancy, humor, and beauty in this film is best seen and not described. The only advice I can offer is to choose to let this film embrace you; forget about all the busyness in your day, and let this film do what only the best films do...take you on a journey you would choose to go on over and over again.