GOOD MOVIES YOU MAY NEVER HAVE HEARD OF
                                                                  Part 6

Herewith the sixth installment of really good movies that attracted little notice when they came out. I hope you will find one or more to rent, or stream,  and enjoy. 
The Straight Story (1999) is the late, great Richard Farnsworth’s swan song, and what a delight it is.  He plays an old man who journeys halfway across America on a riding lawnmower to see his dying brother, from whom he has been estranged for years. He meets lots of people on the way, and this is one wonderful film. Sissy Spacek as his mildly retarded daughter and Harry Dean Stanton as the brother are as good as they always are, but it is Mr. Farnsworth’s film. He lost out to Kevin Spacey for American Beauty for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, but the nomination was high cotton for him. He died at 80 the next year.
Clare Danes is one of our best, and least appreciated, actresses. She did yeoman work in the TV serial Homeland for which she has won two Emmys. Temple Grandin (2010) is an HBO made for TV movie but is readily available to rent or stream. Temple Grandin is a real person, still living today. She is afflicted with autism, a complicated neurological condition that makes sufferers react oddly to social situations and often appear mentally disturbed. But Temple is also a genius at figuring out how to make the rounding up and slaughtering of cattle more humane and more lucrative. Ms. Danes is just stunning in this complex and difficult role. What a good movie!
A Very Long Engagement (2004) stars the winsome French actress Audrey Tatous (much loved for Amelie). Her fiancé has been given up for dead by the government and his family, but she refuses to give up hope. The ending will satisfy the hardest of hearts. 
Waking Ned Devine (1998) is one of the funniest, most charming films from the charming Irish. Ned Devine has won the lottery. The only problem is Ned is dead and the winner must claim the award in person. The townspeople conspire to make this happen, somehow. Their antics in doing this and fooling the lottery judges is just about as funny as anything you’ll ever see. 
The Wrong Box (1966) is Michael Caine’s first big movie break, but it also features a bunch of famous Brits. John Mills, Ralph Richardson, Dudley Moore, Peter Cook and Peter Sellers are also on board in a film about British inheritance and the highjinks employed by those who hope to get rich from it. The plot is simply too complicated to spell out here but is easy enough to follow when viewing it. It is really funny!
All of the films in this column are available on DVD and for streaming. And actually all are fine for any age, factoring in the boredom quotient for littlies.