hyped garbage

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Based on the true story of country singer Loretta Lynn, this biopic follows her from her marriage at the tender of thirteen to the peak of fame. Sissy Spacek won an Oscar for her portrait of the protagonist at all stages of her life, including her teenage years. While her transformation throughout is quite a feat, the project is nevertheless compromised by the fact that Spacek never looks younger than nineteen or twenty. There is an intense scene in which her husband (nine years her senior) rapes her on their wedding night, but any impact is lessened by the fact that she in no way looks like a child. The film also takes some rather odd turns with her husband subsequently becoming the one person furthering and pushing forward her career. This may have happened, but as portrayed in the film, it is a baffling 180 degree turn for a person who (at least in the first half of the film) comes off as a little more than an opportunistic child rapist. The film does have a lot of positives though even if some elements do not add up. Beverly D'Angelo is excellent as Patsy Cline, pretty much Lynn's only real friend during her rise to fame. The film also depicts Lynn's coal mining roots in ample detail to point that the contrast is really heartfelt as she sings the title song at the end, and as such, the film works well as a reminder that with effort, anything is possible for those from humble roots.

Loretta Lynn (Sissy Spacek) is born to the poor Webbs in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky. She is 13 when she catches the eye of Doolittle Lynn (Tommy Lee Jones) when he returns from the war as a dashing soldier. Soon they're married and she's a mother of 4 by the time she's 19. He buys her a secondhand guitar for their anniversary as she goes on a long journey to country music fame.This is a tour de force performance from Sissy Spacek. She is asked to take on quite a long length of her life. Of course, she's never going to look 13 but Sissy gives as much of that perception as possible. Loretta Lynn comes from a poverty stricken life that is Dickensian. Her rise is the stuff of legends. Through it all, Sissy Spacek gives an Oscar worthy performance. She is believable as a love sick 13 year old as well as a suffering middle age woman. It is as much about her acting than any makeup or lack thereof.

There are few motion pictures that I describe as "perfect." This is one of them. As much as I enjoy biopics, alas, many of them tend to be heavy-handed, with few offering stellar performances. But this picture succeeds on every level—star power, direction, story, and concept. I'm not a country music fan at all, but any great film overcomes such considerations, as this one does in spades. Sissy Spacek, is in a word: INCREDIBLE. Few people have succeeded as well at truly bringing anyone, especially a world famous one, to life as well as she did, her acting abilities being on display as with few others. She was essentially, PERFECT for the role, even winning out over the great Meryl Streep for the part. She's naturally a Southerner, so the drawl came naturally to her, she virtually disappeared into the role, and her singing voice was shocking like the country diva herself, adding a dimension of utter realism to the film that few other actors could even approach. As in every great movie, it is only as good as its actors, and with the stunning Tommy Lee Jones, and Beverly D'Angelo delivering a powerful performance as Loretta Lynn's friend and confidante, Patsy Cline, was a total surprise. She also did all of her own singing, surprising me with her vocal talent as well, doing terrific, eerily accurate renditions of Patsy's classic country tunes. Tommy Lee is one of America's most underrated actors, whose wide range of often conflicted characters has made him a modern day icon. What he brought to the part was the perfect counterpart to Spacek, a naturalistic approach that was both solid and rich with nuance. "Coal Miner's Daughter" is a truly memorable movie, whose approach and "down home country charm" never gets old or dated, and will stand the test of time.

Coal Miner's Daughter Rating: 7/10 Rank among 1980 BP nominees: 4/5Biopic about Loretta Lynn, one of the most beloved country singers ever. The plot line, as such, follows typical biopic conventions, beginning with her slow rise towards stardom, followed by her stumbles and finishing of briefly with her ultimate triumph and enduring status as the "First lady of country music". Lynn was heavily involved in the project, even handpicking Sissy Spacek to portray her. From the outset it's evident where her heart lies: her roots in the beautiful Appalachian region of Kentucky, her family, the folk traditions she grew up with. The final scene of the movie reflects this: Lynn sings proudly about her being a coal miner's daughter, while bringing attention to the almost inhumane conditions suffered by laborers in the region. Scenes which develop an almost ethnographic exploration of social dynamics in Appalachia end up being the most worthy of the whole movie, in my opinion; the indomitable spirit of searching for ways to evade the dreariness of material conditions is a quality which I, as a sociologist, enjoy watching on screen for it represents a pre-condition towards achieving empowerment and a pre-requisite for social change.After starting as a paean to Appalachian folkways, though, it segues into a too quick and not so interesting dissection of Lynn's career and the dynamics of country music, complete with numerous bright eyed references to the Grand Ol' Opry and Patsy Cline. I'm no expert on the history of country but this is precisely which ends up being relevant about this film: The duality between Loretta Lynn and the portrayal of her produced by Spacek is resolved in a document which will be a definitive statement on the genre and why Lynn attained such lofty heights. I got the idea that Loretta Lynn triumphed by becoming a representation of what was so valuable to the many fans of country: strength and resolve in the face of the vices which plague the lives of the economically downtrodden of the southern region of United States. Her supposed feminism, for example, could very well be called "Southern Feminism" as Lynn upholds the conservative values of the region by proclaiming her validity as a woman. When she catches Mooney cheating on her she doesn't separate but rather feels the need of solidifying her bond. This sociological considerations, though, stand in counterpoint to a plot line which lacked interest, for me at least, during the movie's second half, Spacek's spectacular and oh so natural, sporting a very convincing southern nasal drawl, portrayal of a naïve but strong woman notwithstanding. It, of course, won numerous and deserved awards.