LostInTheMovies wrote:Request #5! Don't know if the offer still stands 9 years later but I would definitely dig a Straight Story thread, indeed one for each Lynch film even if they didn't see much action.
It might be his most well-reviewed film (MD gets the highest praise but has some vociferous detractors, ditto BV to a slightly lesser extent, and EM was certainly praised but Ebert at least wasn't converted till SS!). But among Lynch fans I think it's his most underrated, or at least gets the least attention (the 2 other big outliers, Dune and Elephant Man, seem to get discussed more).
In terms of favorites, I'd probably place Straight Story in my top 3 Lynchs. There is something so quintessentially Lynchian about the "flavor"/mood/atmosphere even if not in a Lynchian way. It reminds me very much of the rustic, moody, almost autumnal feeling of the pilot or parts of FWWM (especially Deer Meadow). In terms of its sense of place, although Iowa and Wisconsin are a long way from Washington state this feels like the Lynch film closest to Twin Peaks. I guess it's the small town thing (Blue Velvet always felt a little "bigger" to me with its apartment buildings and busy downtown, plus it's very mid-Atlantic/"upper"-Southern even if it was SUPPOSED to be Pacific Northwest originally).
It really is just a beautiful film. As a Briton, a lot of what we perceive of America is metropolitan areas or Canadian cities being made up to look like American metropolitan areas. It's great to see film about ordinary people living ordinary lives in ordinary towns.
That line about acknowledging that you will
never do certain things again breaks my heart. I see it as my parents get older and as friends have become terminally ill. It's actually a particularly affecting film to watch as you head into middle age, as I am now.
The British release of the film has been pretty weak: there's an old encode DVD kicking around, but that's it. I eventually saw the film a couple of years back when I picked up an Apple TV and bought the film in HD on iTunes.
I also love that it's about a singleminded man who sets out on a task and damn anyone or any ailment that gets in his way.