The Straight Story (stylised as the Straight story) is a 1999 biographical road drama film directed by David Lynch. It was edited and produced by Mary Sweeney, Lynch's longtime partner and collaborator, who also co-wrote the script with John E. Roach. It is based on the true story of Alvin Straight's 1994 journey across Iowa and Wisconsin on a lawn mower. The film is generally regarded as one of Lynch's more accessible and mainstream works, alongside The Elephant Man (1980).

Plot

In Laurens, Iowa, Alvin Straight fails to show up to his regular bar meeting with friends and is eventually found lying on his kitchen floor after a fall. His daughter, Rose, takes her reluctant father to see a doctor, who sternly admonishes him to give up tobacco, improve his diet, and use a walker, all of which he rejects. When Alvin's brother, Lyle, suffers a stroke, Alvin decides to visit Lyle, even though they have not spoken in ten years.

Awards