The Straight Story Review

        Out of the films that David Lynch directed in the 90s, I feel that this is his best in the decade. Now when glancing at the poster or just watching a good five minutes of the film, it doesn’t resemble any Lynch film of the past. No sense of oddity or supernatural, not even a hint of dread that is creeping up in some fashion. In some ways, this is probably his only work where it’s practically normal. He even declared that this film is his most experimental. Either he was trolling the press or maintained his quirky nature to sell the film to his following. 

1. Alvin’s Odyssey 

        Before I begin with my assessment, I want to state that this film and the past one that I’ve talked about are based on actual accounts. Where I failed to mention in my look at Lost Highway is that the gist of the film is about the director’s reactions to the O.J. Simpon trial and aftermath. I want to apologize if you feel that I didn’t give much thought to the film. I’ll say that the film didn’t give me much to talk about even though it has the trademark Lynch weirdness, but I didn’t go and do my diligence to offer some more background on the film.

        With this film, you can say that it strays so far from what David Lynch is known for. Having had a summer marathon of nearly all his films, it’s like a whiplash where you’re expecting some oddity, but the weirder aspect is the mode of transportation that the character uses. The film is loosely based on an actual account that happened in the decade. One of Lynch’s collaborators read about the account via The New York Times. So much so that she and another writer co-wrote the script to which Lynch decided to direct it. 

        We follow Alvin Straight as he lives in Iowa, he gets word from his daughter that his brother had a stroke in Wisconsin. Due to his age and not having a license, Alvin decides to use his mower as his mode of transportation to see his brother. That’s the plot in it’s form, and one would think how would you tell a story with that premise. Somehow, Lynch managed to craft an interesting story about the man and his journey. It’s a road movie for starters, a genre in of itself where the journey is important to the narrative. And one where the characters are changed during the whole process. 

        With this film, we see just who Alvin is. He’s an elderly man who’s living with his daughter Rose. Out of all the cast, Sissy Spacek is the only recognizable name among the cast. I feel that it was intentional to hire some nonrecognizable actors as far as making the film more believable. Having someone who’s well known or younger to appeal to a broader demographic would’ve hampered the film and deem it unrealistic for some. And having the film be placed in the Mid-American area like Iowa and Wisconsin is a far cry from the locales that we’ve seen of Lynch’s film. 

        The main highlight of the film is seeing Straight on his odyssey. Seeing him on his mowers with his stuff hitched to it is interesting. There’s a moment I like where in the beginning, Alvin is on a farm road and the camera pans up to the sky. When the shot resets back on the road, it’s like he hasn’t moved from where we see the mower. And I say mowers because he rides on two, the remainder is when he’s riding on a John Greene mower. In one way, I feel it’s a commercial to the brand and to the mower since it’s reliable. 

        Alvin’s characterization is one where he is defined by his stubbornness to fulfill his journey. He’s set on his way to go see his brother. Even being invited by a camp formed by a group of cyclists. I like that with a film that is very casual as far as the situation, there are moments where Alvin encounters obstacles on his journey. When the semi-trucks pass him by is when I get nervous. One instance where a car passes him by, and when we hear it swerve. For a moment that he was going to be set back. We just get a glimpse of a woman who’s stark raving mad of what she accidentally ran over. 

        Before I talk about the bigger theme of the film, I must talk about the side characters that we see. In the middle of the journey, Alvin’s mower encounters problems. I like that there’s a group of people that are willing to help him out. I think it captures the small-town selfless service mentality that I think is lacking nowadays. One named Danny goes above and offers him shelter. So much so, to even drive him to where he’s going. Even though the character has a small screen time, it’s the impression and the action that makes the side-character memorable. 

2. Past Regrets

        Aside from seeing the man on his journey, I feel that in one way the film has the theme of regret spread out in the film. In the beginning moments, we see Rose look out of the window and sees a kid with his ball. And moments where we see Alvin conversate with the people that he encounters with his odyssey. The moments indicate that to us that Rose wants something or is fondly remembering a past moment. For a film that is casual as I stated earlier, there’s bits of sadness that’s imbued in it. 

        With Rose, we learn from Alvin that she’s mentally handicapped and had her children taken away from her from the state. The way that Alvin explains it to who he’s talking to just sells it with the conviction that he lost part of his family. It’s heartbreaking I believe and Richard Farnsworth sells the acting part of it. There are other moments where Alvin is speaking to the other people, one is a runaway young woman who’s pregnant. I like the conversation between the two and stress that family is important in the grander scheme. 

        With the conversations that Alvin has with the people he meets, he also harbors some guilt to. We learn that he’s a veteran and he must live with an action that he did by accident. In some way, a viewer can interpret the whole journey that Alvin is doing as a rite of passage. Or some repentance of past mistakes by going through the arduous journey to see his brother. It’s very unorthodox but having Farnsworth portray Alvin as stubborn and repentant makes it more interesting to see if he’ll last to see his brother.

        One more thing is that it’s unfortunate that the actual man didn’t live long to see his story come to life. He passed away just three years before the movie came out in 1999. Even as his trek became an intrigue in the public. He didn’t want to be interviewed by the Late-Night hosts of the time. What’s more honorable is that he didn’t want the fame or the money when he was visiting his brother. So much so, he didn’t get the guaranteed money after his story was about to be adapted to film. 

3. Overall

        The Straight Story is one of the best Lynch films and one of the best films of the 90s, particularly in 1999.