The Straight Story (1999)
A Review Essay by Mark O'Hara
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Looking for an action movie with lots of special effects? Then don't look at "The Straight Story." But if you're after a well-acted character study, a masterful collection of frame tales, this small film will leave you well pleased.
Richard Farnsworth plays Alvin Straight, a character based on the real man who drove his lawn tractor across Iowa and into Wisconsin in order to see his sick brother. As always, Farnsworth exhibits a gentle, patient style of acting. If you saw "The Natural," you may remember him as the assistant coach with the white mustache, who ate spaghetti with Robert Redford, treating him like a friend when no one else did. Here Farnsworth shows quiet dignity when friends discover him on the floor of his kitchen, unable to get to his feet. It turns out that Alvin has bad hips, and his daughter Rose (Sissy Spacek) is very worried about him. When he discovers that his estranged brother Lyle has had a stroke, Alvin stubbornly makes his decision. Bad hips, bad eyes, no driver's license, stiff-necked independence: not many options. No one seems to have faith in Alvin's mode of transportation, an ancient lawnmower tugging a makeshift plywood-covered trailer. In fact, Alvin does not even reach the next town, fulfilling the pessimism of one of the nosey curmudgeons down at the hardware store. But a friend sells him a more reliable - though still thirty year-old - John Deere, and he's able to resume his slow but sure journey.
What begins with a simple premise offers consummate opportunities. This is a finely wrought road movie, with all kinds of stories-within-stories waiting to be told. There's a pregnant runaway who receives a wiener and life-saving advice around Alvin's campfire. There's a woman whose car hits a deer just yards in front of Alvin's motley rig - the thirteenth deer in seven weeks. There are several other sidetracking tales told and heard along his route - one particularly wrenching one narrated by Alvin himself. It's the storytelling motif that makes this film hang together, with the implication of just how important stories are to our very lives, to our ways of understanding the world.
Along with the quiet ways of the wizened character actor Farnsworth, there's also a quietness about the movie's tone. A few scenes we view from several yards away, the speakers too far to hear distinctly, and so we must rely on our understanding of plot, a bit of inflection thrown in…. Director David Lynch further uses shots that linger longer than they would in another filmmaker's movie. The cuts don't come as quickly, and therefore we get a sense of prolonged realism, a technique that makes for solid character study. Modern attention spans would not be pleased by several of these moments.
In a just world without politics, Richard Farnsworth would receive large awards for his work in "The Straight Story" - and not because it's sometimes deemed fashionable to send a trophy the way of a senior citizen. In nearly every shot the actor acquits himself with remarkable reserve, depicting the determination it must take to drive across states at a speed of four miles an hour. We hear stories that tell us Alvin is the father of 14 children, seven of whom survived childhood. He saw combat in the Second World War. And now he has decided to see the brother to whom he was so close in youth. Each time Alvin tells his story to a curious listener along the way, we understand he is also preparing himself for the actual visit to Lyle, a piece of his life lost through anger and alcohol. Once again, Farnsworth knows how to mimic the most subtle emotions, plainly plodding toward Alvin's crazy goal.
Sissy Spacek delivers an astounding portrayal of a mentally challenged woman - Rose, Alvin's daughter. The most striking aspect of her performance is perhaps her awkward, halting pattern of speech, a hard-starting stutter that puts us in mind of a sensitive and troubled soul. She is now her father's faithful housekeeper, though further into the film we discover the unpleasant events that shook Rose's life. Though we see the father-daughter relationship only in the first third of the film, its strength sends a powerful message about family.
The supporting cast does a nice, natural job, interacting well with Alvin, in many cases showing him good deeds that he usually tries to refuse. Jane Heinz is Dorothy, Alvin and Rose's neighbor; Everitt McGill is Tom the John Deere dealer; and many other actors play the average people occupying the towns through which Alvin drives. Although his appearance is short, Harry Dean Stanton is perfectly cast as Lyle Straight, a man who lives in a ramshackle cabin in the Wisconsin country, every bit as stubborn as his older brother. Stanton is one of the few actors whose craggy face matches Farnsworth's own.
The nature of the film calls for outdoor scenes, and clearly part of Lynch's agenda is to show beautiful expanses of the American Midwest. Much of the landscape awes us not only with its beauty but with its size, Alvin crawling along a road that stretches endlessly before him. We do get a few too many aerial shots of wind-blown corn fields, at times a harvester going full blast in the October sun. Repetitive violin and guitar music frequently accompanies these scenic establishing shots.
Part of this G-rated film's attention has come from its director's reputation for making off-beat, often graphically violent films. Yes, "The Straight Story" is a different path for David Lynch, but it shows strong intuition and storytelling sense. And it's certainly a pleasure to be able to take every member of the family: though you may not find this film in every multiplex, it is worth searching out. You'll leave the theater with an encouraging vision of the real America, held together by a creaky but still strong backbone.
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