Custom image of David Lynch against a red background with a film reel and black & white waves
The Big Picture On the surface, David Lynch’s underrated 1999 masterpiece The Straight Story couldn’t be further from the director's typical style and subject matter. However, the road movie tackles many of the same themes and even has a lot of aesthetic similarity to Lynch's films like Blue Velvet, and especially his TV show Twin Peaks.
The Straight Story GBiographyDrama An old man makes a long journey by lawnmower to mend his relationship with an ill brother. Alvin goes on what can only be described as a spiritual odyssey across the beautiful midwestern plains during which he stops to receive help from kind strangers and reminisce about his time as a soldier. He has cathartic conversations with other elderly veterans in which he confronts his guilt and his demons, including alcoholism. His transformation into a more content and peaceful person is exhibited via subtle character changes that are best experienced by simply watching the movie.
The movie is chockfull of dreamy, prolonged shots of Midwestern plains aided quite romantically by Badalamenti’s score, doing for the Midwest what Twin Peaks did for the Pacific Northwest. The film makes sure that the landscapes are as much a character as Alvin Straight himself. Every scene is filled with a deep warmth and tenderness, the kinds which always acted as trimming to his more esoteric and tonally complex films.
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