Genre: Adventure / Biography / Drama Director(s): David Lynch Release Date: 21 May 1999 Movie rating: 8.0

David Lynch’s 1999 drama “The Straight Story” was a modest commercial success, but an overwhelming critical one. The story, written by Mary Sweeney and John E. Roach and based on real life events, focuses on Alvin Straight (Richard Farnsworth), an elderly World War II veteran who travels across the states on his lawnmower tractor to reconcile with his estranged brother. Alvin, whose health is failing him so much so that he can’t renew his driver’s license, hears the news that his estranged brother Lyle (Harry Dean Stanton) has suffered a stroke. The brothers haven’t spoken in over ten years, but Alvin decides to bury the hatchet and pay his brother a visit. Since he can’t drive a car, he hitches an improvised trailer home to his lawnmower tractor and sets off on a 240 miles long journey from Iowa to Wisconsin. On his travels riddled with mechanical problems he meets and influences a bunch of different people as he gets closer to his brother’s house. After many problems, his single minded determination finally leads him to his brother’s doorstep. After realizing what Alvin went through to see him, Lyle is moved, and the elderly siblings share a touching moment watching the starry sky just like they used to when they were kids.

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