Wow, I remember reading about this guy when Alvin Straight was undergoing his lawn mower odyssey but I didn't know a movie was made about it. I don't think the film put the date in context, it occurred in 1994 and the picture came out five years later. The thing that surprised me was when the story revealed that Straight was seventy three years old. Richard Farnsworth was made up to look about ninety even though he was within a year of Straight's actual age when he made the picture. The only thing that might have looked older was that first tractor he started out with, looking like a relic from his World War II days at least.What I liked about the character was the way he applied his homespun wisdom to onlookers and fellow travelers, like the five month pregnant girl who took his advice to return to her family with that 'sticks in a bundle' story. Or how about his response to one of the men at the cyclers' camp - "Well, the worst part about bein' old is rememberin' when you were young". Actually, I don't think the man might have meant that, even with his failing eyesight and two cane support. After a life of trial and tribulation, Mr. Alvin appeared to be a man who had his head on straight, and I say that with no pun intended. What was perfect I thought was the very ending when he was finally able to come to terms with his brother. Both men appeared to reconcile their past differences without virtually saying a word, realizing that any arguments between them were rendered meaningless in the grand scheme of things. I was intrigued enough about this story to look up up the real Alvin Straight and as I'm now accustomed to, there were a few changes in his story that was brought to the big screen. The chronology of events depicted in the picture differ somewhat from the way they occurred, and try as I might, I can't figure out why the name of Alvin's brother was changed from Henry to Lyle in the story. And lest anyone is wondering, Alvin made it safely back to Laurens, Iowa from Blue River, Wisconsin by virtue of a nephew who picked him up and drove him home. You really can't fault the man for making the lawn mower trip a one way affair.

The best work of Lynch for me. It is more credible because it is based on real people and actions.Very good and intelligent use of helicopter and crane shots. Commendable performances by all. Hope it is widely seen.Production designer Jack Fisk obviously picks good, credible cinema to work on. Actor Farnsworth ought to have won the Best Actor Oscar he was nominated for.

THE STRAIGHT STORY is a film unlike anything else in David Lynch's body of work. It's a subtle, true-life tale about an old-timer who for various reasons decides to take a cross-country trip from Iowa to Wisconsin via his ride on lawnmower. Various adventures befall him and the film is largely made up of his quiet, introspective encounters with ordinary folk along the way. There is humour here but it's quiet and unforced, not loud and brash.This film is really the antithesis of the modern Hollywood film. There's no action, no character arcs, no big plot developments. Just a quiet sense of place and time and, most importantly of all, humanity. Richard Farnsworth was a former Hollywood stuntman dying of bone cancer during the production and his performance is heartfelt and heart-warming without ever being sentimental. It's a very well shot film that touches the heart in a unique way.

I'm writing review about a film that I haven't watched for about a year. However before that it had been 4 or 5 times I had that pleasure and it's just now when I decided to comment. The straight story is the tale about the journey to the beginning. Well , they say that childhood comes two times in life. Once in the first years of life and another at the end of the life, off course if you're lucky enough to reach old age. But that's not the childhood i want to talk about, but the thing around the childhood, cause that's the time when you're i guess "Truest" of all. And you are also part of family, part of what gave you a birth and what in fact you are. And all the family members are part of you. But then comes the time when you go away, you become a little bit stranger. However when you become old you want to rejoin your roots. And that's what Straight Story's magic is. Alvin Straight is making journey through the beautiful landscapes of America but also he's making journey to the past , and that past is future, and both of them are the combining parts of that "Truest". And what Alvin does on the road is just to share everything he learned during his life with people who still have time to go that road. Straight story has the most natural philosophy of all. Here are neither suffered Bergmanic faces talking about the deep spiritual emptiness, nor the half smiling Godaric faces talking about the meaning of life in metro. Here everything is clear, everything comes to the surface and that's what makes the movie a masterpiece. Lynchs dynamic a little bit bleak directing, Badalamenti's masterful score and photographer's outstanding work off course are also in business. I do really think that it's the greatest Lynch film ever. And probably the best picture of all 90's.