Coal Miner’s Daughter
Directed by Michael Apted
Written by Tom Rickman from an autobiography by Loretta Lynn and George Vecsey
1980/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental
Loretta Lynn: [trying out a new song] It goes like this “It’ll be over my dead body, so get out while you can”, then it drops down to “cause you ain’t woman enough to take my man!”
Doolittle Lynn: Where’d you come up with the idea for that song, Loretta?
Is this one of the best singer biopics ever made? I think so. Loved it all over again. The acting is stupendous.
This is the life of country music legend Loretta Lynn (Sissy Spacek). It tracks her story from being the eldest of eight kids in a Kentucky family held together by a lot of love and very little money.
When she is thirteen she falls in love with and marries feckless Doolittle Lynn (Tommy Lee Jones). She gives him four children by the time she is 20. They move to town. Their little family also struggles.
One birthday Doolittle gives Loretta a guitar and she teaches herself to play. Writing songs comes natural.
Loretta’s fame would stress the marriage almost to its limits. With Levon Helm as Loretta’s father and Beverly D’Angelo as Patsy Cline.
Spacek richly deserved her Best Actress Oscar for this film. She is phenomenal in singing and acting. I think Tommy Lee Jones deserved at least a nomination for his. The film is also beautiful to look at. I really enjoyed this re-watch.
The film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Art Design-Set Decoration.
