The Straight Story
List Price:
Our Price: $5.15
You Save: $9.84 (66%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $4.93 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Dan Flannery, Donald Wiegert, Richard Farnsworth, Sissy Spacek, Tracey MaloneyBrand: Buena Vista Home Video
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 112 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-11-07
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Movie Reviews of The Straight Story
Movie Review: It's a good machine...
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Straight Story," David Lynch's quietly brilliant epic, is unlike any film I've ever seen. There are moments when you sense the path, and then it veers in new directions of dignity. Everything about this journey of an elderly man seems earnest and authentic - Richard Farnsworth's final performance, the true story on which the film is based, on-location shooting where the events took place, filming in sequence - eventually coming together as a subtle and unlikely continuation of Lynch's unique vision.
That Lynch had this work in him is one of the most hopeful occurrences in film history. One of the greatest modern directors, he has challenged for decades with unconventional trademark productions, from instant cult classics Eraserhead and Blue Velvet (Special Edition), the dark period piece The Elephant Man, the horrifying Lost Highway and Wild at Heart. I'm sure I left out a film or TV series, but no matter. Lynch's world is often an excursion through the realms of nightmare. His body of work may not hold up against similar masters Martin Scorsese or Steven Spielberg, but this one film is superior to any they've ever made. "Straight Story," yes, is rated G and yes, is a Walt Disney production, but it's the flip side of Lynch's nightmare, a gentle dream, hopeful and amazingly audacious.
Film-making became art the instant someone exposed a trolley car clacking down a busy street circa 1910. It's instant art, oftentimes possessing the depth of a microwavable lunch. Today, filmmakers move fast, forging visions of animated destruction, car crashes, machine guns and men walking away from exploding buildings. These films are populated with young actors, glistening pecks, slick haircuts, shaved heads and tight clothes. They drive waxed cars with loud motors, jump from helicopters and conduct slow-motion scissor kicks against multiple adversaries.
Lynch's "Straight Story" is the exact opposite of every convention in film today. It exclusively details the long journey of a wheezing elderly man on the back of a riding lawnmower ambling 5 mph. He moves slower than modern society, gazing at roadside fields, blankets of evening stars, rumbling thunderstorms and cyclists zooming by. He stops to smell the roses, so to say, as he encounters numerous souls, a wayward teenager who actually looks like a teenager, a comfortable middle age family kicked back in lawn chairs, an elderly bartender who serves beer cold, a lawnmower salesman (Everett McGill) who shoots straight, "It's a good machine." There are other souls encountered en route to the ultimate soul, an estranged brother embracing his final months of life.
It's based on the true story of Alvin Straight, an old man with failing vision who traveled 200-plus miles on a lawnmower across Wisconsin and Iowa to visit an ailing brother. Richard Farnsworth was a perfect choice for the lead, an elderly actor suffering from cancer on the set (he would die soon after the film's completion). Farnsworth, one of Hollywood's most interesting individuals, had spent a life in the movies, first as an extra in such films as "Gone with the Wind," later a stuntman on John Wayne westerns, evolving into the weathered, no-nonsense acting presence we came to love in Comes a Horseman and The Grey Fox [VHS]. Nominated for an Oscar in this role, Farnsworth gives a heartbreaking performance combining physical and spiritual pain, his soul exposed in every scene (and very much akin to Wayne's final performance in the meandering, cameo-heavy The Shootist).
"The Straight Story" is ultimately the microcosm of a man's complete life, one who has embraced anger of the past, has kicked alcoholism, who lives with the scars of years. He's had struggles, a mentally challenged daughter (Sissy Spacek), failing health, minimum income, and yet he's able to view life in a gratified manner. They say some people can see the entire world within their backyard. Lynch has documented such a man and very nearly revealed the secret of the universe. When watching "The Straight Story," I'm reminded of The Bicycle Thief and Ikiru - Criterion Collection. It is, quite simply, one of the greatest films ever made, a masterpiece of modern times.
Summary of The Straight Story
Based on the true story that captured the hearts of America, THE STRAIGHT STORY is one of those rare films offering powerful, uplifting entertainment for audiences of all ages. Directed by acclaimed director David Lynch (WILD AT HEART, MULHOLLAND DRIVE), this gentle, inspiring film celebrates the human spirit. Richard Farnsworth (MISERY, THE NATURAL) stars as Alvin Straight -- a no-nonsense man who has never been one to lean on others. Now at an age when his eyesight denies him the ability to drive and walking is accomplished only with the help of two canes, Alvin lives a quiet life with his daughter Rose (Sissy Spacek). But when the call comes that Alvin's estranged brother Lyle (Harry Dean Stanton, THE GREEN MILE) has suffered a debilitating stroke, Alvin embarks on a dangerous and emotional journey to make amends. With little money, but plenty of patience and tenacity, he climbs aboard his 1966 John Deere lawnmower and plots the 260-mile course from his small Iowa town to Lyle's home in Wisconsin. Filmed along the actual route that the real Alvin Straight traveled in 1994, THE STRAIGHT STORY is a heartwarming and poignant drama chronicling Alvin's six-week odyssey and the many lives he touches along the way.Throughout The Straight Story, 73-year-old Alvin Straight (Richard Farnsworth) gazes calmly at the night sky, as if the stars were reflections of his own memories. Alvin's eyesight is bad and his daughter (Sissy Spacek) is slightly retarded and unable to drive, so he's traveling from Laurens, Iowa to Mt. Zion, Wisconsin on a riding John Deere lawn mower. It's slow going, so there's plenty of time to stop for the night and ponder the cosmos. Alvin's journeying to visit his ailing brother; they haven't spoken in years, and it's time to make peace. Along the way, he befriends a variety of nice folks, and you have to ask yourself... Is this really a David Lynch movie?
It's a miracle that this G-rated Disney film was made by a director whose work is often described as twisted and bizarre. But Lynch is too complex an artist to be labeled, and he brings charm, grace, and kindness to his fact-based telling of The Straight Story--not to mention a serenity rarely found in movies anymore. It's a film of moments--funny, odd, quietly spiritual--and this simple tale of a man, a lawnmower, and rural hospitality becomes a genuine Lynchian odyssey, unlike any film you've seen but as welcoming as a cup of lemon tea with honey. Best of all, it's a fitting tribute to the career of veteran stuntman-actor Farnsworth who, at age 79, plays Alvin Straight to sheer perfection, his face a subtle roadmap to a broad spectrum of emotional destinations. --Jeff Shannon
Similar DVD Movies
Lynch on Lynch, Revised EditionFaber & Faber; Published: 2005-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.63
Price in other shops:
Secondhand LionsNew Line Home Entertainment; Release date: 2004-02-03; DVD
Best price: $3.39
Price in other shops:
SylvesterSony; Release date: 2004-04-06; DVD
Best price: $7.97
Price in other shops:
EraserheadRYKODISC; Release date: 2006-01-10; Published: 2006-01-10; DVD
Best price: $111.11
Places in the HeartSony; Release date: 2001-10-09; DVD
Best price: $8.48
Price in other shops:
The Elephant ManParamount; Release date: 2001-12-11; DVD
Best price: $29.99
The Trip to BountifulPAGE,GERALDINE; Release date: 2005-04-12; DVD
Best price: $6.52
Price in other shops:
The Stars Fell On HenriettaWarner; Release date: 2010-11-15; Published: 2010; DVD
Best price: $16.88
Price in other shops:
Cross CreekLions Gate; Release date: 2009-02-10; DVD
Best price: $4.36
Price in other shops:
Tender MerciesLions Gate; Release date: 2009-06-02; DVD
Best price: $4.75
Price in other shops: