True Blue Kentucky Girl

One of my favorite country singers, one of my favorite biopics, one of my favorite pairings with Conway Twitty and a major movie for me as a child -- Coal Miner's Daughter -- it's near perfection. And if you don't like it, you can go to, as Loretta sang, "fist city."

Michael Apted’s biopic Coal Miner’s Daughter is a work of lovely contradictions that tie together so seamlessly, one is almost surprised by just how affecting it is. Among the contradictions: The movie is refreshingly honest yet wonderfully mythic; it’s gorgeously filmed, at times glamorous, yet down-home, gritty and grindingly real; and it’s rags-to-riches conventional yet incredibly unique, avoiding easy hillbilly stereotypes and folksy Southern niceties.

In fact, the movie’s a lot like its subject, legendary country singer Loretta Lynn, a young woman from the Appalachian Mountains who remained married to her first, troubled love and sang to the good-old-boy country music establishment with womanly candor while creating some of the genre’s most feminist-oriented songs. Take a listen to her controversial “The Pill” (about, yep, birth control) or “Fist City” (about beating up the woman running around with her real life philandering man) or, years after the 1980 picture, her album “Van Lear Rose” -- made with assistance from White Stripes' Jack White ("Portland Oregon" is such a great song it makes me miss my old stomping grounds) -- and you perceive a woman of singular passion, cleverness, will and mystery. And she's still going strong.

And the movie taps right into these elements of Lynn with a subtle, yet inspirational, power. With a fantastic Sissy Spacek playing Lynn (and singing all of her songs splendidly), the story takes us through the typical biopic tropes without feeling typical. Lynn is a sexually innocent child-bride in 1948 when she marries Doolittle Lynn (Tommy Lee Jones), an ambitious man who goes against the wishes of Loretta's father (the great Levon Helm) by moving his daughter far from home. The two have children (many -- and the first time is essentially a get-it-over-with moment of force), but not much of a life, and after giving Loretta a guitar as an anniversary present, Doolittle almost inadvertently unearths his wife’s boundless talent. From then on, it’s up and up and up.

What makes Coal Miner's Daughter so much different than other by-the-numbers biopics is its view of Lynn’s background. With British documentarian Apted (famous for the 7 Up series) at the helm, the film  looks at the hills of Kentucky with an intriguing mixture of exotic beauty and unromanticized sharpness.

Not once does the movie make Lynn’s underprivileged family members appear simply quaint or depressingly poor, instead showing their struggle and charming grit, much like Loretta and Dolittle (who put that woman through a lot of hell in her life, and yet she stuck by him), particularly during the couple’s journey toward stardom. And the cast is brilliant -- with Spacek giving a tour de force performance that spans many years, many triumphs and a few tragedies (including the death of close friend Patsy Cline played wonderfully by Beverly D'Angelo). A lovely tribute to an exceptional artist, Coal Miner’s Daughter does Loretta Lynn’s life, just as she sings in her iconic song, proud.

*For my friend Michael Jenkins. Wished your grandfather could have been more prominent in her on-screen life story.

Comments

[COOP]

Wow. One of my long-time favorites, too. It's a perfect movie about a great subject.

[Steve-O]

I finally saw CMD for the first time last year. I'm so glad I finally saw it. I've been on a country kick for a few years now and love Patsy Cline for one. I spent a week in Nashville before finally cracking the DVD. Going to Tootsie's Orchid Lounge (the ultimate place to see a bar band) and then seeing it in the film was really something. Loretta Lynn was really incredible.

I hate modern pop country. Alt/Americana is the stuff now. It must have been an amazing time when Country was marketed for the white, and R&B for the black folk. Of course Elvis and Sun Records changed all that by doing whatever they wanted.

Thanks for reminding me of this (surprisingly) great film.

[StinkyLulu]

This movie introduced me to two women who have become enduring favorites -- Sissy and Loretty.

I will forever have a sweetspot for this film. Just thinking of the scene where Doo comes in and sees Mama dancing and she just stops stock still...a goosebumper everytime. And the film forever changed how I thought about bologna...

Thanks for this appreciation.

[Chris]

One of my favorites. The role of Loretta's father was a very understated and dignified performance by Levon Helm.

[Buffy]

Thanks for reminding me how fabulous this movie was.

[John]

Love Sissy in that Stetson