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The Appropriate Tune: "Arthritis Blues", by Ramblin' Jack Elliot
Now we can’t revisit directors on this Marathon without bringing up David Lynch, and I mean why not? Of all the directors that frequent this blog, and because of my tendency to return to the well that’s quite a few, he’s one of if not the most successful one of the bunch. I mean when you kick off your feature film career with a cult hit like Eraserhead, and then follow it up with a mainstream hit like The Elephant Man then you’ve already done better than 70 percent of Hollywood. Of course there was a bit of a stumbling block in Dune, so-called in my opinion, but then Lynch struck gold with Blue Velvet, and again with Twin Peaks, which has since become the most enduring work of his entire film career. Again, he could have stopped right after that and still be considered one of the best filmmakers in the country, maybe get a head start on that whole transcendental meditation shit, but he kept on going all the way up to the mid 00’s, even getting another home run with Mulholland Drive before it was all over. Last year we covered Lynch’s first step into the 90s with Wild at Heart, a love story, a rock ‘n’ roll story, a crime thriller and something about the Wizard of Oz all wrapped up with a big Nicholas Cage looking bow to make sure it could never be mistaken for normal. This year, then, how about we see how David Lynch closed out the decade?
Released in 1999, The Straight Story written by John Roach and Mary Sweeney, directed by David Lynch and distributed through Buena Vista Pictures, which indeed makes this a Disney movie made by the same guy who did Blue Velvet. Richard Farnsworth plays Alvin Straight, a 73 year old man living in the sleepy town of Laurens, Iowa with his daughter Rose (Sissy Spacek). Alvin is getting up there in years; He can’t see too well, he can’t move too well and his penchant for sausages and cigars probably isn’t helping either. When he gets the call that his estranged brother Lyle has suffered a stroke however, he decides that come hell or high water that he’s going to see Lyle again. So he buys some supplies, hitches up a wagon to his lawnmower and sets off on his journey. It’s a long way from Laurens, Iowa to Mt. Zion, Wisconsin, especially if you’re only going about 2 miles an hour, but Alvin wants to make the journey under his own power, and that’s exactly what he’s gonna do. Based on a true story, or at least a Straight one.
Where do Lynch’s interests lie, as a filmmaker? What is his style? Most people I think, myself included in earlier reviews, would mention something like dreams or the concept of schmaltzy sentimentalism hiding the true dark, gruesome world that we know. Kyle Machlachlan and Laura Dern’s storybook romance derailed by a severed ear in a field, Laura Palmer’s murder revealing the complex web of sin in this small Northwest town, and so on and on. An inference perhaps, but perhaps even Lynch felt like he was getting too deep into the weeds in that regard, as The Straight Story is the most unapologetically sentimental movie of his career. There are moments of darkness and Lynchian surrealism sure, the Deer Lady scene comes to mind, but the film isn’t mired in it as other Lynch films are. They inform the characters as memories and regrets, but the characters are still human, and in the world that Lynch here has created humans are essentially good. It’s a refreshingly calm, sincerely humanist film from a director whose previous attempts at portraying such things often come across as parodical or satirical, whether that is his intention or not.
Much of that has to do with the titular Alvin Straight, played by Richard Farnsworth. Not since your grandpa have you seen a man who embodies gentle warmth and wisdom like Alvin Straight here, the pinnacle of Lynch’s fascination with the Midwest, so even the simplest of tasks gain an increased importance. What will he do if the lawnmower breaks? What will he do if he runs out of food? Hell, how’s he gonna walk? When you’ve got a movie that’s driven by one character you’ve got to make sure that one person can handle it, and I think Farnsworth manages to pull that off.
If you go into David Lynch movies expecting all that crazy stuff however, you’re probably going to be disappointed in The Straight Story. In fact not much stuff happens at all, dark or otherwise, until you count past regrets and the ever present fear of death . Some traveling, some talking, and plenty of montage shots of harvesters set to Angelo Badalamenti’s folk-inspired score. For those who need action in their movies The Straight Story will be nigh on intolerable, but if you’re in the mood to chill out and just take in the mellow atmosphere then I think you’ll be able to get into this film pretty well.
Not the best review in the world, but The Straight Story gets the recommendation. While David Lynch would get back to the weird stuff with his last two theatrical films, The Straight Story manages to invoke Lynch’s style while at the same time feeling unlike anything he had ever done before. A simple story, simple characters, going in a straight line towards a simple goal. Unflinchingly, unapologetically, and it makes for perhaps the most out-and-out enjoyable film that Lynch has made.that has been covered on this blog. Maybe not something you want to break out at a Halloween party, but I think if you’re feeling out of it or stressed out about the world around you (for whatever reason) this might help even you out a bit. I’m just sorry I’m too stressed to give it its due diligence as a reviewer.
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