7 Times David Lynch Confused The Hell Out Of Us
3. Riding A Lawnmower (The Straight Story)
One of the great things about David Lynch is his unequivocal knack to surprise audiences. With 1999's The Straight Story, he did his greatest job of confounding expectations; he made a sweet, PG-friendly film produced by Disney.
Based on a true story, the plot sees an elderly Alvin (Richard Farnsworth) attempt to trek across the United States on the back of a lawnmower, in an attempt to visit his dying brother. It's a slow-paced, heart-warming tale that's far removed from Lynch's usual body of work.
In many ways, The Straight Story is Lynch not only mocking his critics, but himself too. Criticisms of his films are leveled at how non-linear his story-lines can be, but here he presents us with the ultimate straight-line story. And with cars travelling along a highway at high-speeds a common motif in his films, here we have the polar opposite; an old man on a slow-speed lawnmower with Alvin taking his sweet time with his story, as much as Lynch takes his sweet time in telling it.
Alvin's lawnmower journey is one of Lynch's more unusual artistic diversions, and with it, he managed to confuse his own fans with something unconventionally conventional.