Top 250 Challenge: 227

The Straight Story (1999)
Number 199 on IMDb's Top 250

Alvin Straight (played by veteran actor Richard Farnsworth) is a sickly, elderly man who lives with his adult daughter Rose (Sissy Spacek). When he hears that his estranged brother Lyle (Harry Dean Stanton) has suffered a stroke, he makes up his mind to go visit him and hopefully make amends. The trouble is that Alvin's legs and eyes are too impaired for him to drive a car, so he hitches a trailer to his 30-year-old riding lawnmower and sets off on the 300-mile journey from Laurens, Iowa to Mount Zion, Wisconsin. Hilarity ensues. The film is the story of Alvin's six-week journey across rural America, the people he meets, his impact on their lives, and theirs on his. It is a modern odyssey of a man dealing with his own mortality and the lasting bonds of brotherhood.

Trivia: There are no scene selections on the DVD because David Lynch wanted the film to be one whole experience rather than scenes. Academy Award winner Richard Farnworth started as a stuntman in the business and performed stunts for 30 years before switching to actor. This was his final movie and he was nominated for another Academy Award for Best Actor.

Farnsworth lost to Kevin Spacey in American Beauty for the Oscar. It must have been a very tight race because both performances were extraordinary. This was a very inspiring story and really is a modern odyssey. The amazing part is that it was based on a true story. Sissy Spacek was also good in her role as a slightly slow woman with a speech impediment, but she was not on the screen for very long.

Next Up: Talk To Her, the story of two women in a coma and the two men who love them. Be sure to come back, this one sounds innocent enough, but it is kind of creepy.