Trivia / The Straight Story

• Acclaimed Flop: Despite near universal praise from both critics and audiences, and even being David Lynch's best reviewed film, it didn't do well at the box office, grossing only $6.4 million on a $10 million budget. Disney deciding to release it in only 186 theaters REALLY didn't help.
• Creator's Oddball: Not that he hadn't successfully directed movies with linear plots before, but it's safe to assume that "Walt Disney Pictures presents... a film by David Lynch" is a credit nobody ever expected to see; along with not only being the only film directed by him that he didn't write, it’s the only film of his to gather a G Rating, which Lynch himself noted was extremely weird. The subject matter isn't necessarily something you would immediately associate with Disney either.
• Dawson Casting: Averted, Richard Farnsworth was the exact same age as Alvin Straight. Thus, he became the oldest actor ever to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor, a record he'd keep for 22 years until it was broken by Anthony Hopkins' nomination for The Father.
• Invisible Advertising: Besides a few press tours and a successful screening at Cannes, Disney didn't give much advertising for the movie when it came out, where it sadly more or less became forgotten.
• One-Book Author: The only film written by John Roach and one of only two films Mary Sweeney would be involved with as a writer (She'd try writing again and eventually directing about a decade later with the film, Baraboo.), as she's otherwise been David Lynch's editor since Twin Peaks.
• Production Posse: Yes, despite its sweet and straightforward nature, Lynch still uses a great many actors from his other films in this one. (Even Sissy Spacek was involved with Eraserhead, as she helped fund that film with her husband, Jack Fisk, who was a production designer on both films.)
• What Could Have Been: James Coburn, John Hurt, Jack Lemmon and Gregory Peck were considered for Alvin Straight.
  • Richard Farnsworth nearly turned the film down because of his cancer at the time causing him so much pain that he couldn't even walk. When he learned that he could use a walker since Alvin also used a walker, he gladly signed up.

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