Director: David Lynch
This is my second time viewing The Straight Story, and I'm not sure if I love The Straight Story because it's a great film or because it's an anti-film. By anti-film, I mean that it's staggeringly mundane - at one point, the protagonist asks which area code he's in and whether he has to dial the extra three numbers. Most of the performances don't feel like performances - most characters in films are a little more charming, a little more witty, a little more beautiful than the rest of us. Not here. In fact, the characters are so devoid of these things that it wouldn't be hard to view the film ironically, but I don't think that's the intent.
Farnsworth is unforgettable as Alvin Straight. Straight is honest, stubborn, and endowed with a folksy sense of humor. The Straight Story was, in typical fashion, passed over for Academy Awards, but Farnsworth was nominated for Best Actor. Only one off-note scene, which feels like it's imported from another Lynch project, keeps this from being a 5 star film.
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