David Lynch: His G-Rated Film Is A Quiet Triumph
When you think of David Lynch, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? It’s likely one of his classic films, most of which are weird, creepy, edgy, or all of the above. 1977’s Eraserhead is an underground classic. 1986’s Blue Velvet was a strange, dark, erotic film that was made for a cult audience that somehow became iconic. Today, it’s also recognized as a classic. His 1990-1991 TV show Twin Peaks set the bar for how strange and ambitious a TV series could be.
So when news came that he was directing a film called The Straight Story–and it was being released by Disney’s Buena Vista Pictures, no less!–people were understandably shocked and maybe a bit cynical. How was this guy doing a Disney film? Would there be a subversive element to it? Was this a joke?
It wasn’t a joke. A musical equivalent would have been if Nine Inch Nails ditched their electric instruments and made an Americana album on banjos and mandolins. The Straight Story, released in October of 1999, was based on a true story. Lynch’s frequent collaborator, Mary Sweeney, read the story of Alvin Straight in the New York Times in 1994. Per the article, Alvin Straight, who was 73 at the time and “too blind to get a driver’s license,” learned that his brother, Lyle, had suffered a stroke. Alvin lived in Iowa, and his brother was in Wisconsin. Alvin wanted to see him.
It wasn’t just physical distance that divided them; they were estranged and hadn’t spoken in nearly a decade. And Alvin wasn’t a wealthy man. He really had no practical way to make the 240-mile trip. So, he bought a 1966 John Deere lawn mower, hitched a 10-foot trailer to it, and started driving. I won’t say any more, but this isn’t a movie that has “spoilers.” The Straight Story is really about the journey, not the destination.
It’s about the beauty and the difficulty of the trip, and the people that Alvin (played by Richard Farnsworth) met on the way. We learn about him from his conversations. And we learn a bit about the people who he meets, too. They all seem “normal.” It’s not very Hollywood. But all of their stories are important. And the film conveys the dignity of “regular” people’s lives without overstating the message. There are a lot of instances of Alvin meeting people he would not have encountered had he not left to take this trip.
In many ways, The Straight Story seems quaint: in the ’90s, our country was not nearly as divided as it is now. No one asked, or cared, who you voted for and it wasn’t a big part of their identity (or wardrobe). Connections were based on our similarities, and the differences didn’t seem quite so divisive. You could certainly have conversations with people who voted differently than you.
The Straight Story was Richard Farnsworth’s final performance; he was battling metastatic prostate cancer and was reportedly hesitant to take the role. But Alvin Straight’s story clearly resonated with him. As Farnsworth told the Los Angeles Times, “I saw the condition he was in. It kind of gives you a feeling of what he went through sitting on the [mower] every day… I am kind of limited [as an actor]. I do rural things. I couldn’t do a Philadelphia lawyer or a nuclear physicist. But the way it was written, it just felt fine.”
Straight was a World War II veteran, as was Farnsworth. A scene where he meets a fellow vet is quiet but extraordinary. Farnsworth was nominated for an Oscar. In retrospect, it seems like a shame that he lost to Kevin Spacey for American Beauty, but it doesn’t seem like the type of thing Farnsworth would worry too much about, or Alvin Straight, for that matter.
It’s not just different for a David Lynch film; it’s different from most films that have been produced over the past few decades. It doesn’t rush Alvin’s story; his journey is a slow-moving one. Of course, it isn’t about the speed; it’s about noticing what is happening during the trip. Sissy Spacek, who played Alvin’s daughter, summed the film up this way: “It’s a four-mile-an-hour road picture. It’s about living your life and not having regret. It slips up on you and hits you from behind.” And even if it doesn’t move (nearly) as quickly as most other films, it’s definitely worth your time to sit and watch it.