Coal Miner's Daughter

Loretta is the coal miner's daughter in question.  She's a 13 year old free spirit, brought up in near-poverty in Butcher's Holler who is swept off her feet by the dashing Dolittle "Doo" Lynn.  Despite her father's reservations, she agrees when Doo proposes to her, but Doo soon finds that married life isn't all he thought it would be and becomes tired of mountain life where the only options are "Coal mine, moonshine or movin' on down the line."

Also, Loretta isn't too keen on this "sex" business, even when Doo provides her with a manual.  Plus, she's a rotten cook.  She excels in two areas though - she sings like an angel and gets pregnant a LOT.  By the age of 19, she has four children to sing at.  Doo buys her a guitar for her 24th birthday and soon Loretta is playing bars where she develops a following.  Doo takes Loretta on a tour of local radio stations and she quickly becomes a success, although her lack of worldliness is a bit of a handicap - especially when she tells a DJ that she and her husband pass the time  by getting horny together.

STATION OWNER: What do you mean, you don't know what it means?  We could get taken off the air!
LORETTA:  Ah thought it meant cuttin' up and actin' silly.
STATION OWNER: Cut the dumb hillbilly act, lady!
DOO:   I can assure you it's no act.
LORETTA:  Thank yew honey.

It's this part of the film (Loretta's background and rise) that takes up most of the film, and it's a joy.  However, Loretta Lynn's eventual stardom, her cheating husband, her tragic friendship with Patsy Cline and her nervous breakdown don't make for quite as good a story.  The problem is that you're never in any doubt that this tiny, feisty woman will inevitably come through (when her husband beats her, she beats him back twice as hard - when he cheats on her she humiliates him by writing songs about it).

Sissy Spacek gave an Oscar-winning performance as Loretta in 1980, and performs all the songs herself.  Tommy Lee Jones is equally good as Doo and Beverly D'Angelo stands out as Patsy Cline.  There's not enough about Loretta's controversial feminist and anti-war songwriting (pretty outrageous in the conservative world of the Grand Ole Opry of the 1960's) but still this is one of the best music biographies I've seen and if you enjoyed the recent "Crazy Heart" you'll probably love this too.  8/10

"Nothing lives here anymore, just a memory of a coal miner's daughter".