STRAIGHT STORY, A

Most people are accustomed to a David Lynch film being a surreal and existential experience. Titles like Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire have toyed with our minds and coerced us into a new skewed way of watching movies. Amongst all of his films, A Straight Story sadly gets forgotten. I personally consider it to be his best film. It tells the true story of Alvin Straight, an old man who learns that his estranged brother has suffered a stroke. With a life of regret Alvin makes his mind up to make amends with his brother. His legs and eyes have failed him and he isn't permitted to drive a car and so he cranks up his ride-on lawn mower and rides 240 miles to his brother's door step. This is a really (REALLY) beautiful film. It's a welcome G rated Disney movie from Lynch that's wholesome, life affirming and heart warming. Richard Farnsworth plays Alvin and this would be his final film before he died. He was nominated for best actor at the Oscars and he should have won it. If you have never seen A Straight Story then you should... if you love Lynch then this will be unlike anything you've seen from him before. As with other film's he's released onto dvd, the cheeky bugger has removed all chapters so that viewers cannot skip scenes. He wants us to respect the story, respect his work... and fully give ourselves over to Alvin's amazing story.

---