The Straight Story [DVD]

I have just finished watching The Straight Story finally after trying to catch it for some months. There are only a few movies that touch something deep inside, a raw emotion that changes the way you think about all that is dear to you. Forgiveness, redemption, compassion, the simple things in life such as family and friends, the place where you grew up, a clear night sky.But the Straight Story is so much more. It is a simple tale of a man who, in his own words "has seen just about all there is to see" and yet realises that before he dies, he has one wrong left to undo.So Alvin Straight drives his lawnmower 300 miles to see a brother that he hasn't spoken to in over ten years. He refuses help along the way, telling those on the road that he has to do this in his own way; this is his rite of passage. Amends perhaps for estranging his own brother...Along the way, he meets many people and he tells them a little of his story which helps to show us a little more of Alvin's motives. One of the most poignant is his conversation with a fellow old timer about their deeds during the War. Another favourite scene is when he's talking to a runaway about the strength to be found in family.Visually, I have always liked David Lynch's work and the Straight Story, despite being a massive departure from his usual surrealist approach is trademark Lynch. The cinematography is simply stunning. The wide camera angles and slow movement conveys and enhances the American midwest and seems to compliment somehow the peaceful yet dilligent frame of mind of the central character.Richard Farnsworth is brilliant as Alvin Straight. Deep rheumy eyes and a heavily wrinkled face show a man who has lived and yet burdened with with his own regrets.The supporting characters that Alvin meets along the way are good and honest people. Such a nice change from all the badness in the world. And his final meeting with Lyle, his brother, is pure magic. Hats off to Harry Dean Stanton who, when he asks Alvin if he drove all the way on a lawnmower just to see him and Alvin says yes, the look in his eyes he gives back closes the film beautifully.Put simply, The Straight Story is an honest and gentle tale of human goodness and only those without a soul could find this film less than enjoyable. Definitely one for the DVD collection and a movie that deserves to become a classic. Highly recommended.

Everything about this film made me reflect on what is meaningful and valuable in life. The music, the characters, the small town and countryside scenery, the many and diverse types of people and the deep value and meaning of their caring for each other, despite differences.The film struck a chord with me causing me to cry a number of times throughout the film. It was a very healing experience and made me think about what is valuable in life, namely a peaceful disposition and kind and loving relations with family, friends and strangers, as well as the ability to cherish and enjoy the simple things and the wonders of life (eg. the stars and the stormy weather). The simple country life of the people in the film seems to be less and less common as most people are living in overcrowded cities bombarded by impersonal advertising and digital toys and increasingly disconnected from nature.There are many issues that this film touches on, aging, caring for incapacitated or handicapped family members, generation gaps, war and veterans, hospitality and kindness, determination, taking long journeys or pilgrimages, reconciliation of past disagreements with relatives etc.If any of these things are of interest to you I would recommend this film.

This is a really nice film that I saw many years back and have only just found this, version of it. I had a bit of a struggle to play the film in English but couldn't getbd of the foreign subtitles which was disappointing to say the least.

Lovely and touching film.

Richard Farnsworth, who was a Hollywood stunt man amongst other things in his long film career turns in a wonderful warm and sensitive performance as an elderly disabled man who has impaired mobility and failing sight who decides to take a journey of several hundred miles from Idaho to Wisconsin to see his brother, perhaps for the last time, with whom he quarreled ten years earlier. He decides to ride there on a motorised lawnmower because he is not allowed to drive because of his failing sight.There is comparitively little action in the film - it is a story of a man impelled to embark on a long journey to right a wrong and make amends whilst there is still time. It is about how he gets there against all the odds, the kind people he meets along the way and how their interaction affects the lives of all concerned. He is a man who harbours guilt about an event during the second world war and because he hears that his brother had suffered a serious stroke he realises that both of them may die before they could be reconciled. He remembers how close they were when they were young, how they slept in the open air at the farmstead where they lived, how they often talked far into the night while gazing at the stars and he is desperate to repair their broken relationship before it is too late.It is an absorbing, moving and memorable film enhanced by beautiful photography of the mid west scenery, lovely music and a terrific central performance by Farnsworth who dominates the film and I believe it is the best film that director Mike Leigh has made.