I am interested in a review for The Straight Story. I've seen a lot of good reviews on Amazon and IMDB, but I don't always trust opinions from those sights. Is this a rent or buy disc?

"...but I don't always trust opinions from those sights[sic]..."

...and why would you think you can 'trust' the opinions on this site more than those on the Amazon and IMDb sites?

...here's another review of the DVD - maybe you'll 'trust' it more...:

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/review...ightstory.html

. . .


[Edited by Hendrik on 03-14-01 at 11:11 AM]

When Cable Guy gets 4 stars, I quit paying attention to reviews. What's next Goodburger - 5 Stars !!

Thanks for the link.

As with any "rent or buy" flick, that depends on what you want from the movie.

"Straight Story" is a hypnotically slow film about a physically slow person. In my view it's like some of the best films of the 70's (a la "Badlands" or "The Last Detail") in which well-depicted, rich characters experience a series of vignettes rather than getting yanked through a boilerplate Hollywood Plot. This bodes well for repeated viewings, since knowing the plot won't ruin the experience.

If you're mostly into nonstop action and explosions, fugeddaboutit. If you're into David Lynch at his oddest, this might not do much for you either. However, I feel "Straight Story" is heartwarming in the best sense of the word: humanistic without cloying sentimentality. If that appeals to you, buy it...

I not only didn't like this film, but I didn't like that because this film was released, another film based on the same story that I thought was better was never released.

The Straight Story is as beautiful and sublime a film as you could want (assuming that's what you want). I found it very relaxing . . . watch it on a warm, summer afternoon. -JMC

please explain.

The Straight Story is an excellent story, a beautiful movie, and a beautiful-looking DVD. It's bare bones, but the movie is worthy of owning, but again if your idea of a good movie is Armageddon or Godzilla 2000, you should probably stay away.

Be aware of the fact that by David Lynch's choice, this movie has NO chapter stops. Worth getting nonetheless.

This is a wonderful movie, beautifully filmed. It does a great job of capturing the Midwest small town ambience. The DVD cover is one of the best I have seen, not flashy but very classically styled. One of my favorites.

Yeah, there was a bit of griping on DVDTalk about that a while back. After watching, it, though, I see why Lynch didn't want to use chapter stops: the movie can't (shouldn't?) be cut up into conceptual pieces.

This DVD's appropriately bare bones, I feel. On the side, though, I'd love to see a documentary about the real Straight...

This is a slow, nice movie, about nice people being nice to each other. While that may sound insipid, I thought it was really touching and non-sappy, and its a great change of pace from the frantic level of most new movies.

I don't know...A G-Rated Lynch film? It just doesn't sound right. Does it break out and get all weird a the end? Does the old man morph into Frank Booth and then kill the midget from Twin Peaks, or what? I can handle a messed up and surreal film by David Lynch, but a straight one?

Being a huge Lynch fan (see my name)...I thought this same thing. I saw The Straight Story at the theater anyway and loved it. I have the dvd but haven't gotten around to watching it yet, but I did see it a second time on a plane back from Italy. It is a G picture, but it is still very Lynchian. No surrealism, but the odd characters and their quirks are still very present in this film. If you see the film, you'll know what I mean when you see the scene in the hardware store when Alvin Straight purchases something, and the scene with the lady who hits something with her car. Very Lynchian small town characters.
Besides those subtle things, the movie is very beautiful, great cinematography. The slow pace is very typical Lynch too. Sissy Spacek's performance was very touching and was quite convincing. But no, it does not "break out and get all weird at the end"

Damn that movie was strange! It had this incredibly weird feel to it, and Lynch's directing style was clearly visible. I never knew a G-rated film could be so....adult

Hey! glad you liked it (at least i think you did). you can definitely still feel Lynch's prescence behind the camera, rated-G family flick or not.