Rating: 
Summary: A Modern Masterpiece
Review: Unbelievably good considering it is such a simple film in a well-worn genre. David Lynch proves he can be one of the all-time great directors if he wants to be. And it features a salvation theme that will have devout Christians looking for a Christ figure. The ending is perfect too. Heck, this is a masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Simple, Amazing Beauty
Review: Simply put this film is a beautiful slice of life. There is nothing flashy here but at the end you'll hopefully feel moved and very fufilled. I did.
Rating:
Summary: Almost perfect
Review: the film is perfect. The DVD is not. I bought from Canada and it not in widescreen format. It's in a poor full ratio one.
Rating:
Summary: Straight Up......
Review: "The Straight Story" is a fantastic mood generator, and David Lynch does an awesome job of casting a magical spell upon your soul as you melt in the breathtaking visuals of midwestern landscapes, and are soothed by the score of Angelo Badalemente. The acting by Richard Farnsworth is brilliant and heart-wrenching to watch (knowing he was in extreme pain while filming this, and then later taking his own life). The Straight Story is a mellow movie that is great to unwind and relax to. It's a peaceful journey with an important message at the end of the ride. Unconditional family love.
Rating:
Summary: A truly good movie
Review: I know the title for this review sounds pretty underwhelming, but I want to stress how much weight the word 'good' means in this case. 1999 gave the audience a troughful of preachy feel good and pretentious message-movies, but 'Straight Story' was the only film that was 'good'. No agenda's or convulated plots, just a simple story of a man and his journey.'Straight Story' is good for so many different reasons. David Lynch is one of my favourite directors, so I am pretty biased in calling him a genius, but this film truly puts his artist's vision on full display. Though much more 'mainstream' (although how could one ever give this label to Lynch) than his other films, 'Story' contains many elements which definately mark this work as his own. Fascinatingly bizarre (yet strangely real and familiar) characters, often odd camera angles and weird dialogue all inhabit this film. Performances by the late Richard Farnsworth and Sissy Spacek are so flawless and dead-on real that they can't even be called performances. Farnsworth is especially touching in the poignant role of Alvin Straight, and I believe will long be remembered to be his best role. Of course, what would a post-'Elephant Man' Lynch film be without the music of Angelo Badelementi? Although quite different from his past masterworks for 'Twin Peaks' and 'Lost Highway', the music he composes still remains beautiful and haunting, a great companion to the visuals Lynch creates. Some people may feel that this film was stiffed at the Oscars. Heck, I'm glad it wasn't nominated for more. Those statuettes could do nothing but tarnish the true gold found in this movie.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful, no-frills movie
Review: In this movie an old man, Alvin Straight, hears that his brother in Wisconsin has suffered a stroke. The brothers had had an argument 10 years ago and had not spoken since. Alvin decides that he will travel to see his brother on the only mode of transportation at his disposal, a lawnmower. The story is of his journey, both physical and emotional, towards a reconciliation. This is a simple, but poignant movie. When Alvin reminisces about childhood memories we have only his words, not a visual flashback. Along the way Alvin encounters many kind people who help him when he has the inevitable problems of a 300 plus mile trip on a lawnmower. He refuses offers of a ride by more speedy transportation, preferring instead to make his journey alone and unaided. Alvin is played to perfection by Richard Farnsworth whose facial expressions and measured words communicate a world of emotion. Sissy Spacek is very believeble as Alvin's mildly retarded, speech-impaired daughter. This is a real tribute to family values and the strength of the human spirit.
Rating: 
Summary: GREAT MOVIE!!
Review: This gets my vote for one of the best Movies. BUT I give the movie 3 stars like someone else I saw. simply because of the DVD. It's SO DAMN exspensive and it still has some of the sound problems that the VHS had! I was hoping that the sound would have been cleared up from the vhs but no it hasn't. THIS IS A FANTASTIC film. BUt they could have had at least a little documentry about the real Alvin Streaight They could have had some bio's or making of. or just took some pictures of where they shot. I respect Lynches reason for not putting a chapter skip but c'mon! He just could have put more to the dvd! This film needs to be put under the 100 best movies though. and the only reason I can say to buy the dvd is to have a widescreen version of the film.. but other then that I guess you really should go get vhs.
Rating:
Summary: Oh My Goodness!
Review: This film had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. No kidding. I felt so many different emotions while watching this movie. I was scared, saddened, enlightened and thrilled all at the same time. Don't let slow appearance and Disney association fool you. Richard Farnsworth, struggling with cancer at the time of filming, puts on a superb performance. He definitely left this world on a high note. There are no dissappointments in this David Lynch film.
Rating:
Summary: One Man¿s Journey to the End of the Road
Review: Apart from simply implying that the film is the story of Alvin Straight, the title, "The Straight Story" is also a colloquial reference to Lynch's crystal clear vision. That, appropriately is where all irony ends. The Straight Story is not a film of metaphors or symbols, although the journey of a stubborn man across 370 miles to see his ailing brother, his encounter with a wide variety of folk has been construed as some sort of fable. Lynch, always one to expose the rot the lies beneath the picket fences, has a filmography that would encourage such an interpretation. The story here, from all angles is that of a man and his mower, and ofcourse everything in his long life that has led to this momentous journey. Richard Farnsworth was nominated for best actor in a leading role, and lost. Perhaps that was appropriate. There is a certain falsehood in the word "performance". He wears the sorrow and the joy of some 70 odd years on his face. Unlike many movies about or featuring elders, the film doesn't presume him to be some ubiquitous fountain of wisdom. He is honest, and whatever wisdom he has was hard earned. The worst thing about being old he tells a somewhat hyper cyclist he meets on the road is "remembering when you were young". Maybe a better accolade for Farnsworth is people's inability to describe how he is in the film. An expression, that seems to emulate from whatever soul human beings have, is worn on his face. It says, and affects, more then is feasible to describe. There was I recall surprise at the kindness of this film. Not just to Straight, but to the strangers he meets on the journey. They are, surprisingly for Lynch, not only sane, but ones I would be glad to run into if I just happened to be travelling on lawnmower. Lynch's fans would recognize that, although seemingly the opposite of the likes of Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart, The Straight Story comes from the same place, the same wordless search for the truth, whether in ugliness, beauty or kindness. In one scene that will be remembered for a very long time: Straight sits with a stranger. They discuss drinking, and from there, the war. There is no music, just brief sounds of battle, but no visuals. Both men experience an unexpected outpour that can only come adventitiously. He remembers those young boys back in the field "I dream of their faces. Sometimes, it's not even my buddies, sometimes its German boys. We were shooting moon-face boys at the end of the war. Every year I live is a year more then they've had". Quietly, this scene dwarfs Spielberg's entire Saving Private Ryan, and Lynch.... I was going to say does it, but rather, he lets it happen with the melancholy in an old man's eyes. Search if you must but you won't find another film quite like this one. The closest I can think of is Wim Wender's Paris, Texas, another seemingly unaffected film. The elements of The Straight Story are indeed superlative. Angelo Badalementi's score, particularly the twangy violin, soft acoustic guitar of Laurens Walking, is cleansing, mournful, understated. Freddie Francis's photography is breathtaking, but somehow, never overpowers the film. I would call it a masterpiece. But what Lynch and his collaborators have accomplished is a form of cinematic purity that transcends such pedestrian praise. It gains an added measure of poignancy when you consider that Farnsworth took his own life last year in the face of terminal cancer. In the film, a stranger offers to give him a ride to his brother's place. He smiles, thankful and says "I am gonna finish this one my own way". I could never tell exactly why, but his final gaze up at the stars is one of the great moments in cinema.
Rating:
Summary: Poignant, simple, and evocative
Review: This movie is an oh so important and pleasant reminder that you don't need to have sex, action, violence, special effects, big budgets, box office draws, or complicated scripts to produce quality. IT'S THE STORY that drives it all. And within is a very powerful one but one without a great deal of dialogue or bravado. In this case it was totally unnecessary. The only rebuttal I would make to any critics who say that this film moved to slowly is that the director was trying to create a sense of time and distance. That of a life, relationships, regrets and revelations. None of which happen in a moment or are necessarily singular events. Wisdom comes with time and in small increments just as the trip (in the film) demonstrates. So for me the story did not move slowly at all. If you need to be bombarded with the stupidity and inane activity that occurs in too many Hollywood films today then the Straight Story is definitely not for you. On the other hand if you can appreciate truth, honesty, and the beauty of the human spirit then you will truly revel in The Straight Story.
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