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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Straight Story, The
Buena Vista Pictures
FILM:
MPAA RATING: G for General Audiences
Starring
Richard Farnsworth,
Sissy Spacek,
Everett McGill,
and
Harry Dean Stanton
The true story of Alvin Straight (Farnsworth) who rides his 1961 lawnmower from Laurens, Iowa, to Mt. Zion, Wisconsin, to visit his estranged brother after the latter suffers a stroke.
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
John Roach
Mary Sweeney
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
David Lynch
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: May 9, 2000
Video: May 9, 2000
Theatrical: October 15, 1999
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
111 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA / France |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Austin Chronicle
Steve Davis
Its simplicity belies an emotional complexity that will linger in your mind like a gentle dream.
100
San Francisco Chronicle
Edward Guthmann
All the actors are good, but it's Farnsworth's brilliantly simple performance that brings The Straight Story so close to greatness.
100
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
A great, haunting film; it affects us in ways we're not used to...it is capable of both lifting our hearts and chilling us to the bone.
100
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
The most atmospheric thing in the movie is Farnsworth's face.
100
USA Today
Mike Clark
The best news the G rating has had since the ratings system was instituted in 1968.
100
Boston Globe
Jay Carr
Farnsworth's embodiment of old American values, with their combination of delicacy, reserve, and stand-alone independence, is a one-of-a-kind treasure.
100
San Francisco Examiner
Wesley Morris
A momentously, shockingly moving fit of shape-shifting by a filmmaker grown tired of the macabre.
100
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
A beautiful, appropriately loping little gem about growing older, daring to take risks and follow your heart. That probably sounds corny, and The Straight Story is.
100
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
The first time I saw The Straight Story, I focused on the foreground and liked it. The second time I focused on the background, too, and loved it.
100
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
The Straight Story truly is one from the heart, and it is wonderful.
91
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
Lynch's first movie since ''Blue Velvet'' that truly envelops you in its spell. It's a piece of celestial Americana -- his journey to the light side of the moon.
90
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
Lynch takes us on a journey of shattering understatement -- a remarkable accomplishment.
90
Film.com
Elizabeth Weitzman
Clear-eyed and open-hearted, The Straight Story (which is based on reality) tells a simple tale, and it does so with a rare, blessed simplicity.
90
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
Cuts a path directly to the heart.
90
The New York Times
Janet Maslin
Switching gears radically, bravely defying conventional wisdom about what it takes to excite moviegoers, Lynch presents the flip side of "Blue Velvet" and turns it into a supremely improbable triumph.
88
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Lynch's first G-rated feature, turns out to be one of the year's best films...a wonderful surprise.
88
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
If there is any justice in the world, Farnsworth will be remembered at Oscar time.
83
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
I loved it...Without trying very hard, Farnsworth commands a unique and immensely appealing screen presence that could be called "a compilation of all the great western heroes of the movie past."
80
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
The wonderful Richard Farnsworth plays the lead, and he was clearly born for the part...a highly affecting and suggestive spiritual odyssey.
80
Film.com
Peter Brunette
Richard Farnsworth shines as Alvin Straight, a role, one gets the feeling, that he has been preparing for all his life.
80
Variety
Emmanuel Levy
Lynch has directed his most satisfyingly disciplined movie.
80
Salon.com
Charles Taylor
And now in The Straight Story, no director has been so buzzingly alert to the emotional lives of those people or to the beauty of the world they inhabit as David Lynch.
80
Dallas Observer
Andy Klein
Indeed heartwarming, though not simplemindedly so.
80
Time
Richard Corliss
Alvin's tragic memories give perspective to the triumph of his trek, even as Farnsworth's weathered brilliance makes this movie a G as in gem.
80
TV Guide
Ken Fox
Oddly enough, this uncharacteristic offering from a director whose name instantly evokes a very particular kind of film -- call it postmodern American gothic -- is also one of his best.
79
Mr. Showbiz
Kevin Maynard
Lynch's faith in the kindness of human nature has been renewed, yet thankfully he's never maudlin. Instead, he wins over our emotions with the film's understated beauty.
75
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
As slow-moving as the voyage it portrays,...a surprisingly complex view of contemporary life beneath its good-natured surface.
75
Baltimore Sun
Ann Hornaday
An engaging yarn and a moving character study, but it's also a sweet, sad glimpse of everyone's future.
70
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
Too mannered and weird around the edges to be convincing.
70
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
Sunny as The Straight Story appears, Lynch is still defamiliarizing the normal.
70
LA Weekly
John Patterson
Inspirational...unfolds gently with an evenness and rural patience.
50
TNT RoughCut
Graham Verdon
A snail-paced story in all of its glorious ... slowness.
 The average user rating for this movie is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 29 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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