The Straight Story

David Lynch is the man who brought us such mind-benders as Twin Peaks, he has repeatedly produced films that uncover the sinister side of what lives behind the picket fences of small town America with the like of Eraserhead and Lost Highway.

You might that Lynch would be incapable of bring a straight story to the big screen. The plot line seams far too simple not to have a huge twists in it. But this a true story, that inspired Lynch after he read a newspaper clipping.

When 73 year old Alvin Straight gets a telephone call at home in Laurens, Iowa, in telling him that his brother has had a stroke. He decides to visit him, despite not having seen for over 10 years, as any one would.

The first problem that his brother, Lyle, is 500 miles away in Mt. Zion, Wisconsin. The next is that the only transport that Alvin can afford and legally drive is a '66 John Deere lawnmower with a top speed of 5 miles an hour.

Straight story chronicles Alvin's patient odyssey and those he meets along the way. Alvin encounters a number of strangers, from a teenage pregnant runaway to a fellow World War II veteran. By sharing his life's experience Alvin teaches and learns from those he meets, he has a profound impact on these characters that colour his pilgrimage. As one of the people who he meets says "There are a lot of weird people out there" but perhaps none so much so as the guy on the lawnmower.

As you can imagine this film would be nothing without strong lead. Richard Farnsworth's does not disappoint giving a "masterfully understated and yet expressive performance."-Total Film.

The film is worth seeing just for the beautiful midwest landscape, in all its autumn glory, which of course needs to be seen in widescreen.

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