Cheap The Straight Story (Video) (Sissy Spacek, Richard Farnsworth) (David Lynch) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Straight Story

The "Greatest Seneration" Shows All of Us the Way--Again.
As John Straight, Richard Farnsworth evokes two seemingly disparate traits: tenacity and serenity. On the one hand, his quiet determination to drive a John Deere tractor/lawnmower across Iowa, with an old, broken-down trailer behind him, to see his ailing brother Kyle in neighboring Wisconsin, is tenaciousness defined. On the other hand, when he gazes silently at the immense, star-filled night sky above him, his eyes beam complete and total peacefulness and serenity to the moviegoer. Sissy Spacek, as Straight's slightly "retarded" but wise daughter, masterfully plays her role--as usual. Her understanding of her father demonstrates the depth of "life knowledge" that many so-called retarded persons acquire as they deal with life. Spacek's mournful gazing at the little boy playing on the sidewalk outside her house is quite touching. Yes, the "action", as it were, moves slowly, but that becomes a plus, lending a calm and easy pace to the film that, to me, was especially welcome. It is not seen nearly enough on today's movie screens. This is a movie that requires each viewer to look within himself in search of the "don't sweat the small stuff" attitude seen in Farnsworth's evocative and splendid performance. I recommend this movie to EVERYONE.

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A slice of life
The Straight Story is a simple, yet beautifully told story that is a slice of life not only because it is true but because it deals with themes and topics that we can all relate to. Family, conflict, forgiveness, and the passing of time are all topics that we know about. After watching this movie I have a newfound respect for David Lynch.

Richard Farnsworth puts on a Oscar caliber performance as he sets out on a lawnmower to visit his ailing brother. To some people that may sound stupid and boring but as you begin to watch the movie as Alvin embarks on his journey across state you begin to embark with him on this life changing experience. For some, the movie at times may seem to be a bit slow but this is rather unfortunate because we are so used to action, explosions, and special effects that we rarely watch movies that are as deep as The Straight Story.

Set in the midwest, (Iowa I believe) the cinematography and scenery takes your breath away. Also, the soundtrack is just as beautiful.

In The Straight Story Richard Farnsworth shows us that simplicity is what life is all about. We as Americans get way to caught up in the hustle and bustle of our lives and careers that we forget to slow down and focus on the more simple things in life like family, relationships, and taking back the time that has been lost.

This is a movie that will move you and change your life and will have you moved to tears in many parts. It's too bad that this movie didn't get the attention that it deserved when it was released in theatres because it truly is a hidden treasure. I have been waiting so long for this to come out on DVD and I am so happy that I will finally be able to own this great movie on DVD. Experince a slice of life and get The Straight Story.

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a (mostly) orthodox story
wilhelm furtwngler; the conductor of the berlin philharmonic up until 1954, had a very unorthodix beat. indeed, his conducting was in itself unorthodox. he had heard some grumbling amongst the orchestra members that his beat was hard to follow, and that his conducting was too improvisational.
he then appeared before them and said ' so you dont think i can give you an orthodox beat?, okay let's go' and he proceeded for several minutes to do a 'by the book' reading of brahms. he then stopped. ' see i can do it, but it has no life. its not interesting!'.
the same could be said for the films of david lynch and his most ardent critics.
lynch has, all along, been able to tell a story straight, as he did here and elephant man. but even then lynch has to be lynch. he has to filter the story through his own sensabilites and style.
elephant man and straight story both have lynchs style deeply stamped upon them.
elephant man has his visual artistry, straight story his quirkiness.
the beauty of straight story is this is his 'g' rated quirkiness, and that's very appropriate for a man,who despite all of his progressive accomplishments in film, still lives in the suburbs.
with straight story lynch set out to prove that he could indeed tell a story straight and its most certain there was a sly wink in titling this film.
he actually upped the furtwangler philosophy one in that he did an orthodox narrative and STILL made it interesting, but naturally its still lynchian all the way through.
by the way this was farnsworth last film. he was terminally ill and took his own life about a year later.
he was a charactor actor with grace and vulnerability.
he will be missed