‘The Straight Story’: Mowing Grass, Mending Relationships

Richard Farnsworth gives a sensitive and caring performance while traveling on a lawn mower.

Alvin Straight (Richard Farnsworth) travels on a riding lawn mower to visit his brother, in "The Straight Story. Asymmetrical Productions

G | 1h 52m | Drama, Biopic | 1999

In 1994, widower Alvin Straight drives 240 miles alone, from Iowa to Wisconsin, to visit his brother who’d suffered a stroke. Straightforward story, right? Except—Straight is 73 years old, can’t see well enough to renew his driver’s license, can’t move without walking canes, is diabetic, and has bad lungs. Then there is the small matter of his vehicle of choice.