The World Made Straight: Movie Review
Director David Burris makes his feature film directorial debut with “The World Made Straight”, an adaptation of Ron Rash’s acclaimed novel. Although there is a terrific message at the center of the story about how a history education can liberate and redeem, it doesn’t help matters when the film itself is a chore to sit through. The sluggish pacing and depressing tone made watching “The World Made Straight” extremely difficult.
Set in a rural Appalachian community during the 1970’s, “The World Made Straight” is centered on Travis (Jeremy Irvine) a young man at a crossroads in his life, and Leonard (Noah Wyle), a former educator turned drug dealer. Travis finds himself curious about the events of the Civil War and the history of his own family and how it affected them. After leaving his family’s home with no place to go, Travis winds up moving in with Leonard, who also helps educate the young man and helps him point his life in the right direction.
The most interesting thing about “The World Made Straight” is actually the location the film is set in. We don’t get to see many rural places like this one and it is beautiful to look at. Despite some good performances, mainly from Steve Earle who plays the local bad guy Carlton and Minka Kelly as Leonard’s strung-out girlfriend, there isn’t much here I can actually recommend. I haven’t read the source material, but I can assume that it’s much better than the film.