Una storia vera

David Lynch is a director known for the weirdness of many of his films. After all, he's helmed "Eraserhead", "Blue Velvet", "Dune" and "Twin Peaks"--all very weird films by anyone's standards. However, here he's made a film that is very different in tone from his other famous work--and I wouldn't have suspected he could make such a 'normal' film. Perhaps this is because unlike most of his work, he didn't write "The Straight Story"--just directed it. Regardless, it's an exceptional film--one that is really unlike anything else I've seen--and I have seen and reviewed A LOT of films.

The film is based on a true story that occurred a few years before the film was made. Alvin Straight was a 73 year-old man whose brother suffered a stroke. Alvin did not have a driver's license, as he had poor vision and was in pretty poor health. So, in order to make it to his brother's home hundreds of miles away, Alvin rigged up a trailer onto his riding mower and set out on a journey that would take him well over a month!

While the subject matter is pretty mundane and the story rather slow-going (mostly because Alvin Straight's journey was a very slow one), the film managed to be quite entertaining. The script was excellent, Lynch's direction lovely and Richard Farnsworth was terrific in the film as Alvin Straight. Overall, despite being such a simple story, it is a very special sort of film--one that folks who don't demand action and excitement will enjoy.

No matter where you are on your journey, the meanders past, present and still to come, you'll take something from this endearing tale about an elderly man and his adventures on a very long journey to see his brother by mini tractor. Meeting and interacting with numerous people on his way, who each have a relatable story to share, along with a few the old timer shares with us - you're left feeling reflective on your own directions, what they mean and where it is they're taking you, and those around you too. Beautifully performed, filmed and scripted, it's never too late to rebuild bridges broken, or indeed, build new ones into the future.

It takes patience to get through David Lynch's eccentric, but-- for a change-- life-affirming chronicle of Alvin Straight's journey, but stick with it. Though it moves as slow as Straight's John Deere, when he meets the kind strangers along his pilgrimage we learn much about the isolation of aging, the painful regrets and secrets, and ultimately the power of family and reconciliation. Richard Farnsworth caps his career with the year's most genuine performance, sad and poetic, flinty and caring. And Sissy Spacek matches him as his "slow" daughter Rose who pines over her own private loss while caring for dad. Rarely has a modern film preached so positively about family.

"A truly nice story with a moral about brotherly love" describes this odd David Lynch film. This was especially "odd" because it wasn't the kind of film Lynch had been putting out in the last 15 -20 years. Those were dark and shocking films (Blue Velvet, Wild At Heart, Mulholland Drive) and this is the opposite. I know it disappointed a lot of his fans. Others were delighted by it. Count me as one of the latter, and I own all three of those "dark" films, too.

This was another supposed-true life story, here detailing an elderly man's trip in a seated lawnmower from western Iowa all the way to Wisconsin to see his ailing brother who he hasn't talked to in years but wants to see before the latter dies. Well, I guess that premise - an old man driving a lawn mower 400 miles - still makes this an "odd" film of sorts, so Lynch stays in character with that!

Richard Farnsworth plays the title role. He is the type of guy, face-wise, voice-wise, low-key personality-wise, that just about everyone likes. The wrinkles on his face tell many a story. It was so sad to hear what happened to him in real life a year after this film was released.

The first 25 minutes of this film isn't much, and not always pleasant as it shows the main character's adult and mentally-challenged child (Sissy Spacek) and her tragic past, but once Alvin Straight (Farnsworth) begins his trip, the story picks up. I played this for several friends and they thought the film NEVER picked up, but I am more generous with it. I think it's a hidden gem. To them, it was a sleeping pill.

I found his trip pretty fascinating but you have to realize in advance this is NOT going to be a suspenseful Lynch crime story. It IS slow and if that's okay with you, you might like this. Charm enters the picture in some of people Alvin meets along the way, such as a wayward young girl running away and some nice town folks who help the old man out when he gets in trouble. (Henry Cada as "Daniel Riordan, is a standout in that regard.) Harry Dean Stanton gets third billing, but that's a joke: he's only in the final few minutes of the movie!

The Iowa scenery is pleasant. I lived there for several years and can attest to the rolling hills and the rich soil. It's a nice state with nice people....like this movie.

This is not a movie for fans of the usual eerie Lynch stuff. Rather, it's for those who either appreciate a good story, or have grown tired of the run-of-the-mill stuff with overt sentimentalism and Oprah-ish "This is such a wonderful movie! You must see it!"-semantics (tho' she IS right, for once!).

The story unfolds flawlessly, and we are taken along a journey that, I believe, most of us will come to recognize at some time. A compassionate, existentialist journey where we make amends för our past when approaching ourt inevitable demise.

Acting is without faults, cinematography likewise (occasionally quite brilliant!), and the dialogue leaves out just enough for the viewer to grasp the details od the story.

A warm movie. Not excessively sentimental.