In an incredibly rare move this week, I gave a film five stars on Letterboxd. The movie in question was ‘The Straight Story’ by David Lynch, which as the name hints, is his least surreal work.
The title primarily comes from the true story of Alvin Straight, a 73-year-old man who rides a lawnmower 240 miles from Iowa to Wisconsin to visit his seriously ill, estranged brother.
Despite it being a conventional film from the Twin Peaks director, there’s just enough of his quirkiness to keep it interesting, along with some very Lynchian humour and the usual incredibly moving score and soundtrack from collaborator Angelo Badalamenti.
I deliberately reserve five stars for the very best films, with even very good ones often dropping at least half a point. But this ticked every box for me – I’m a sucker for small-town Americana, and it’s just a genuinely heartwarming story in an almost documentary format that I could’ve easily watched all over again. No notes.