It’s time to announce the latest round of online store adds. Today’s exciting allotment includes Marcel Carné’s “Le Jour Se Lève,” John Carpenter’s “Memoirs of an Invisible Man,” and David Lynch’s “The Straight Story.”
“The Straight Story” is something of an anomaly in the work of David Lynch, a director known for nightmarish (and sometimes elliptical) works often populated by a rogues’ gallery of grotesque eccentrics. In this unflinchingly earnest Midwestern tale, longtime stuntman turned actor Richard Farnsworth earned an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Alvin Straight, an elderly man who determinedly sets out to see his brother who’s had a stroke, even if it means taking a riding mower from Iowa to Wisconsin because he can no longer make the trip by car.
While the pairing of David Lynch and Disney (who produced and distributed the film domestically) might seem odd, the fact is that, content-wise, “The Straight Story” is a consummate Disney film. Also, there’s the fact that Lynch’s “Twin Peaks” aired on ABC, which is owned by Disney.