SOURCE: Cardullo, Bert. “Getting Straight.” Hudson Review 53, no. 2 (summer 2000): 299-307.

In the following essay, Cardullo praises The Straight Story for its restraint and serenity, asserting that it is one of the greatest films ever made.

David Lynch, best known for exploring the darker recesses of the human psyche as well as the darker corners of the American landscape in such cult films as Eraserhead (1977), Blue Velvet (1986), and Twin Peaks (1992), has created an eloquently simple, representatively American, straightforwardly emotional, and extraordinarily moving picture titled The Straight Story (G-rated and released by Disney, no less). As for why he has turned to more “serene” material, Lynch's explanation rings as true as his latest film: “Sex, drugs, violence, and obscene language have been pushed to an absurd extreme, to the point where you don't feel anything anymore.” In other words, less is more, or restraint can produce its own form of...