The Straight Story (***) – Anyone who listens to Jonathon Brandmeier’s show regularly knows the story of Alvin Straight. Johnny had several conversations with him and members of his odd family on the air and we knew of him to be a stubborn son-of-a-bitch. Now, with the release of the film chronicling his journey on a John Deere riding lawnmower over 300 miles to visit his ill-stricken brother, everything we’ve come to know about Alvin in JB’s world seems to be contradicted with the critic’s view of this film. Previews suggest that Alvin comes off as a lovable old curmudgeon sputtering out creative license to whomever he meets and that’s essentially what it is.It’s a nice story, sweet and soft, with some beautiful landscapes to look at and one of the most beautiful film scores of the year that will be remembered come Oscar time. Oscar will also, no doubt, be looking at the performance of Richard Farnsworth as Alvin, and it is worth consideration. Farnsworth does endow Alvin with some of the stubbornness (especially early on) that we’ve come to know about, but he also creates an Alvin that we sympathize and identify with as well. And as good as Farnsworth is, my favorite performance of the film belongs to Sissy Spacek as Alvin’s daughter. Her story is even more heartbreaking, and while not having a whole lot of screen time past the 45-minute mark, she commands every moment and I’d like to see her name among the supporting actress nominees. This film’s Alvin Straight becomes kind of a cross between David Banner (of TV’s Incredible Hulk) and Kane (from Kung Fu) as he churns out words of wisdom to every new person he meets across his journey. It starts off as sweet but threatens to wear out its welcome towards the end.Johnny B. listeners will be disappointed in the absence of any mention of Betty, Alvin’s wife at the time with the male-like voice and attitude. But it’s an emotional journey of self-discovery along with the physical one and plays better if you think of it as a fable and not one of historical fact. (Note: The world is coming to an end – Both David Mamet and David Lynch have directed “G”-rated films in 1999. I believe the final sign of the apocalypse.)
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