Coal Miner's Daughter

Loretta Lynn's life has been to say the least,interesting.A wife at 13, mother at 14,and walking a long path to her throne as the "Queen of Country Music".Triumphs and tragedies have virtually filled her life, and it was expertly brought to life in this film.Sissy Spacek gives a dead on performance as Lynn,right down to her voice,and even does her own singing for the film.This is without a doubt one of the best acting performances of a non fictional character I have ever seen,and let us not forget the Oscar worthy performance of Tommy Lee Jones as Doolittle Lynn,Loretta's husband.He is always excellent,but he was never better than he was here.This is an excellent true story of Loretta's long journey from the Kentucky backwoods to the Grand Ole Opry stage.A must see and must own movie.

Sissy Spacek got her career role and her Oscar portraying country singing legend Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter. The film was also up for Best Picture in 1980 and for a bunch awards in the technical fields. But only Spacek brought home the gold.

Loretta Lynn came from a background about as humble as you can get. She was as the title says of the film and one of her hit songs a Coal Miner's Daughter. From a place called Butcher Holler. One of the great strengths that Coal Miner's Daughter has is the location cinematography in Kentucky and Tennessee. Hollywood could never recreate the look of the poverty she came from.

She was the eldest of several kids born to Levon Helm and Phyllis Boyens-Liptak playing her parents Ted and Clary Webb. She was an assistant Moma to her younger siblings and a real Moma with for kids by the time she was 20. She married at 14 to Doolittle Lynn aka Mooney because of his original profession of moonshiner. But she liked to sing and it was her husband that said some of those songs that she made up just might be a career path. Anything was better than the unimaginable poverty in those Kentucky hills.

Watching this film today, made in 1980 and set in the 50s and 60s I thought about things today which are probably worse than in Loretta Lynn's salad days. Then the United Mine Workers was a strong union and insured some kind of living for these people. But coal for environmental reasons has been abandoned. Could Loretta Lynn make it out in 2017. She would sure have more incentive.

During her early days Loretta was mentored by Patsy Cline played here by Beverly D'Angelo. Both had the same problems, husbands who were on the sidelines of their wives' career. In this case Tommy Lee Jones plays an easy going Doolittle Lynn who feels a need every now and then to kick up their heels.

Of course the second great strength of Coal Miner's Daughter is the score of Loretta Lynn hits in the film. If you are not a Loretta Lynn fan, you might just become one after viewing this film. Some of Patsy Cline's hits are included, a little preview so to speak of her biopic Sweet Dreams.

Coal Miner's Daughter is as fresh as the day it was released and a must for country music fans.

The reason this film works (arguably the greatest bio-pic ever produced) is that it is ABOUT Loretta Lynn's life, not about country music. From the opening shots of a young Loretta riding a mule to the mines with her brother, you know this will be a film about extraordinary characters. It is over an hour before we hear one song from Loretta Lynn; director Michael Apted and writer Thom Rickman spend time to develop Loretta, Doolittle and her family. When her father dies, the audience cries with Loretta because we know her family, her father, we understand where this girl came from and why it is such a unique transition from backwoods girl to international star.

It's been said that Ms. Lynn was named after movie star Loretta Young. When approached by executives to make a movie about her life (based on her best-selling autobiography), she was savvy enough to realize that a film would end up on television anyway, and opted to have film made. I can imagine (most likely to the chagrin of studio execs) that Apted fought to develop a script that showcased the characters over the music. The result is a film that EVERYONE enjoys. When the film was released in 1980, I remember people going who were definitely not country music fans, and I remember their raves after the movie.

America is about the Horatio Alger storyline: everyone can achieve greatness. This film highlights that dream. While it does fall into some cliche trappings once Loretta Lynn is a huge success (the on-the-road montage, the drugs, the nervous breakdown), there are such cliches because the pressure performers feel is one in the same. Overall, it ages beautifully because it captures a time when the American hills spawned such unique talent (Lynn's contemporaries are either showcased or mentioned to great effect).

Of special note: If Oscars could be given for past work, Beverly D'Angelo should be voted the "Best Supporting Actress" of 1980 for this film. Unfortunately, she was not even nominated. You will be hard-pressed to find such a complete performance in film. Similar in screen time and impact as Dame Judi Dench's performance in "Shakespeare In Love", D'Angelo gives a Master Class in screen acting for her portrayal of the late Patsy Cline. Most likely, this flash of brilliance is what inspired the film "Sweet Dreams", the bio-pic of Cline, a film that pales in comparison to "Coal Miner's Daughter."

This is Spacek's only Oscar win thus far out of six nominations. She's a national treasure and this performance is outstanding. However, you should see this film for all its elements, working to create an outstanding picture. Highly recommended.

As one of the better cinematic bios, "Coal Miner's Daughter" deserves praise because it is such a topnotch production. Sissy Spacek gives a terrific performance in the rags-to-riches, true-life story of country music legend Loretta Lynn. Spacek does her own singing in the movie, as does Beverly D'Angelo in the role of Patsy Cline.

But this lavish, big budget film has more to offer than the great performances of these two actresses. Attention to detail in production design, costumes, and makeup, plus topnotch editing combine to rev up the film's technical quality. And I loved that soundtrack with all those great country/western songs, including especially "Honky Tonk Angels" by the wonderful Kitty Wells. All of these cinematic elements render a film that is as entertaining as it is factual.

Loretta Lynn's story originates in the South; it's a story rich in emotion and appreciation of simple home values like love, family, and perseverance. Local non-actors are brought into the film in bit parts, and that amplifies the authenticity of her surroundings, especially her Southern roots.

My only problem with this film is the plot structure. The first fifty minutes could have been condensed. In particular, that part of the film that deals with Loretta's love affair with Mooney (Tommy Lee Jones), his red jeep, and Loretta's dad was too long and drawn out.

But overall, "Coal Miner's Daughter" is amazing because it presents a true-life success story that was by no means inevitable. All kinds of things could have intervened along the way to stop Loretta's rise to the top. Her husband was a big help, but she also had talent, and she got some breaks at crucial times. Her journey from rural Kentucky poverty to Nashville mansion thus makes for a gripping story helped along by the nearly perfect performance of Sissy Spacek.

I found that this film is divided into two parts. The part before Loretta Lynn's career as a country western singer and the part after she had become a singer. I'd have to say the first portion was better. However overall this is certainly a must see motion picture. Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, Beverly D'Angelo and Levon Helm turn in performances that literally make the movie what it is.