The Straight Story

Actors:  Richard Farnsworth, Sissy Spacek, Jane Galloway Heitz, Joseph A. Carpenter, Harry Dean Stanton, Everett McGill
Rating:  10 out of 10, I don’t know what surprised me more - that this was a David Lynch film or just how powerful the movie was.  The simple elegance of the story and the understated command with which the story is conveyed is almost mesmerizing.  Farnsworth plays Alvin Straight who decides upon hearing of his estranged brother’s stroke that he will jump on his riding lawn mower for the 300 mile journey.  This apparently is based on an actual event.  There is no flash or attempt to overly dramatize the journey.  Farnsworth was suffering from terminal cancer when this was shot but he delivers a performance for the ages.  Again, the simple dignity of a man confronting himself and doling out wisdom to those he encounters without preaching.  There are so many memorable scenes in which little is said but so much is conveyed.  The scene between Alvin and another aged World War 2 veteran sitting in a bar and revealing the pain they’ve each harbored for all the years since is heartrending.  Alvin tells the story of accidently killing a comrade in combat and reflects that as he gets older he doesn’t count the years he’d lived but the number of years he’d denied his comrade.  Again, that simple, but powerful elegance this whole film is permeated with.  The ending is perfect.  I find it hard to do justice to this film.  If you love films and you haven’t seen this – do yourself a favor.   
MVP:  Farnsworth as Alvin Straight, a fitting send off to a great character actor