Richard Farnsworth is Alvin Straight, a stubborn octogenarian who can't drive a car because of his eyes. He hasn't spoken with his brother Lyle (Harry Dean Stanton) in a decade. Lyle lives 300 miles away and has had a stroke. Alvin decides to ride over to see him and patch things up. On a lawnmower.

David Lynch's stupendous film is based on a true story.

This quiet, unassuming, slowly paced slice of life is marvelous and engrossing filmmaking. Leave it to Lynch to allow the camera to linger a beat or two longer than usual so that we might really know the characters and their everyday eccentricities.

The brothers' rapprochement on Lyle's porch is manifest with understatement and one of the greatest final scenes in the history of cinema. It is a prime example of how less is almost always more.