David Lynch Made A G-rated Movie For Disney

The late David Lynch was always best known for his interest in the grotesque. Although Lynch never considered himself a surrealist, his films often veered into the surreal, presenting a dark, twisted version of reality where only dream logic applies. His first feature, “Eraserhead,” he once described it as “a dream of dark and troubling things.” Many celebrated his controversial 1986 neo-noir “Blue Velvet,” a film full of murder, kink, and aggressive sexuality. He deconstructed soap opera dynamics with his somnambulistic TV series (and subsequent feature film version of) “Twin Peaks,” went on a lusty crime spree with “Wild at Heart,” and made a shadowy meditation on shifting identities with his 1997 porn film. flick “Lost Highway.”

Then, in 1999, Lynch did the strangest thing he could have done. He made a G-rated biographical film for the Disney company.

For “The Straight Story”, Lynch eschewed his usual obsessions with sex, death and violence, and instead made a quiet, slow, tender film about an elderly man who longs to reconnect with his estranged brother . The film told the true story of Alvin Straight, a 73-year-old man from Iowa with a fascinating story to tell. It seems that in 1994, Alvin’s brother, Henry, suffered a stroke and barely survived. Alvin wanted to go see his brother, but a series of health ailments, as well as poor eyesight, had taken away his driving license and prevented him from driving a car. Alvin, without hesitation, knew he could still legally pilot his 1966 John Deere lawnmower, a vehicle with a top speed of five miles per hour. He drove his riding mower all the way from Iowa to Blue River, Wisconsin, where Henry lived. The 261 mile journey took Alvin six weeks.

Lynch cast retired actor Richard Farnsworth as Alvin and told a bright, laid back, slow story about family, travel, and the American heartland. Despite the material, it’s still very much a David Lynch film.