Saturday, July 9, 2016

Musical Movie Review: ****Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)

Sissy Spacek and Tommy Lee Jones star as husband and wife in this look at the life of Loretta Lynn, famed country singer, based on the autobiography written by Lynn.  It tells the story of Loretta's early life, and her marriage when she was 14 to  Doolittle Lynn.  She started having babies soon after, and was thrust into the role of wife and mother.
This movie is interesting as it explains Loretta's rise in the music business.  Doolittle bought Loretta a guitar, because he liked to hear her sing.  It was him who pushed her into singing in front of people.  Doolittle was asking people, and figuring out how to manage his wife's career, mostly by the seat of his pants.  They cut a record.  From there they started touring at radio stations promoting its play.  With that, the song hit #14.  After the death and funeral of her father, Doolittle drove Loretta to Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry.  She quickly became a regular and befriended Patsy Cline.  She was devastated when Patsy died in a plane crash, and has sung songs and recorded an album in her memory.
From there Loretta's career took off, but that of Doolittle faded.  He felt less than and turned to drink.  Some of Loretta's songs were about their struggles in marriage such as "Don't Come Home A' Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)."  However they stuck together until Doolittle's death.  He became more involved by managing their horse ranch.  This film concludes with the song "Coal Miner's Daughter."
Great fun and great music.  Sissy Spacek won the Oscar and Golden Globe for best actress, and the movie won Golden Globe for best film.  

No comments:

Post a Comment