Everett McGill, Harry Dean Stanton, Jane Galloway Heitz

From director David Lynch comes a lyrical portrait of one man's real journey across America's Heartland. Filmed along the 260-mile route that the actual Alvin Straight traversed in 1994 from Laurens, ...( read more  read more... )Iowa to Mt. Zion, Wisconsin, "the Straight story" chronicles Alvin's patient odyssey and those he meets along the way. When not rolling along at five miles an hour aboard his '66 John Deere, Alvin encounters a number of strangers, from a teenage runaway to a fellow World War II veteran. By sharing his life's earned wisdom with simple stories, Alvin has a profound impact on these characters that color his pilgrimage.

Flixster Users

89% liked it

25,089 ratings

Critics

95% liked it

85 critics

G, 1 hr. 51 min.

Directed by: David Lynch

Release Date: October 15, 1999

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DVD Release Date: November 7, 2000

Stats: 1,347 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,347)


  • October 31, 2009
    If I hadn't known it was David Lynch I wouldn't have known it was David Lynch. Touching and inspirational.
  • September 18, 2009
    A sweet, simple and beautiful masterpiece. American cinema at its very best!
  • November 3, 2008
    Disney and David Lynch work together on a film and what is the result? The most humane film Lynch has ever done. Gone are the visual elements and non stories that have helped create some of the directors work (Mullholand Dr., Eraserhead, Blue Velvet.) and his worst (Dune, Lost Hi...( read more)ghway) The Straight Story is nothing revolutionary and can be too slow at times. However excellent performance and the film's beautiful ending will make it impossible for even my heart of stone not to be warmed.
  • October 31, 2008
    Amazing and sensitive without being schmaltzy. I didn't know that Lynch could keep himself from throwing some weirdness into a film.
  • March 18, 2008
    A very simple film about a simple man. Very quiet and very moving.

    Richard Farnsworth is perfect!

    This film is completely different then anything Lynch has done before, but just as impressive. A kinder/gentler side of David Lynch.
  • November 3, 2009
    Kinda cheesy feel-good/sad story about an old guy driving across state lines on a lawn mower to see his brother. I'm surprised it wasn't a Hallmark movie.
  • October 18, 2009
    Good movie from beginning to end
  • September 25, 2009
    I was apprehensive about watching this one. Simple story, simple characters. It was either going to be amazing, or amazingly bad. Thankfully, it was the former. Farnsworth plays the likable Alvin Straight, a man on a journey spanning across States in order to see his estranged br...( read more)other and put the wrongs of his past right. The scenery is spectacular with its rolling hills, the music is beautiful in its subtlety and the performances near perfect. Farnsworth played this character whilst he was suffering from a terminal illness and this helps a lot of his wisdom shine through. Moving, poignant and a different style of movie from Lynch.
  • September 21, 2009
    heart warming! perfect for a rainly sunday.
  • August 26, 2009
    Farnsworth is great.

Critic Reviews


January 15, 2002
David Edelstein, Slate

Lynch has slowed the world down and gotten back in touch with it. full review

January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The screenplay by John Roach and Mary Sweeney finds poetry and truth. full review

View more The Straight Story reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • Badfan4ever
    June 9, 2006
    This Is The best film i've ever seen.

    You really gotta watch it.

    "There's no one knows your life better a brother that's near your age. He knows who you are and what you are better than anyone one earth. My brother and i said some unforgivable things the last time we met, but i'm trying to put that behind me. And this trip is a hard swallow of my pride. I just hope i'm not too late" -Alvin Straight

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The Straight Story Trivia


  • Glenn: Let me get this straight, you snuck out of the house in the middle of the night to clean up graffiti? That's an amazing story.  Answer »
  • The Straight Story by David Lynch is based on the true story of Alvin Straight's 240-mile journey across Iowa. Alvin, who was 73 years old, made it on a:  Answer »
  • *** Which David Lynch Film is Based Upon A True Story of One Man And His Mower***  Answer »
  • The Straight Story, Wild at Heart, Dune and Inland Empire are all films directed by...  Answer »

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