Not that most of you can tell, but I’m kind of weird when it comes to movies I really enjoy. Give me an old-fashioned slasher film with lots of blood and gore, and I can enjoy it as much as a weepy romantic comedy. Even odder is that I loathe sports and country music, yet love films about them. That is one that I have yet to figure out. So being that is it may, whenever a good biographical film about a country western star comes out, I’m generally there to catch it. Unfortunately, most of the movies of this type aren’t very good. They’re either so white-washed as to paint too good a picture of the star, or so Hollywood-ized that the stars themselves don’t even recognize it’s about them. Such was not the case with one of the better autobiographical films to come out of the 1980’s. Well, actually it was released in 1980, so it barely qualifies; nonetheless it’s as good a film today as it was back then. “Coal Miner’s Daughter” told the story of the rags-to-riches career of Loretta Lynn.

Starting out with her impoverished childhood, where (then) Loretta Webb had to share a home with 7 siblings in a small coal mining town in Kentucky, she finds escape eat the age of thirteen. She meets and marries Doolittle Lynn and by the age of twenty has four kids and no further escape in sight. But Doolittle likes the way she sings, so having bought her guitar (instead of a wedding ring), begins to push her into embarking on a singing career.

In what seems to be an overnight happenstance, she works her way into honky-tonk nightclubs, finally ending up in The Grand Ol’ Opry. There she forms a friendship with Patsy Cline, which eventually leads to her being dubbed the Queen of Country. Of course, the film ends around the time of the movie, so while we see Lynn’s later battles with drugs, there has been enough happening in her life since 1980 to warrant a sequel.

What makes “Coal Miner’s Daughter” a better than average movie is the fact that it doesn’t take Lynn’s life and turn it into a stylized drama. I’m sure some artistic license present, but director Michael Apted does a great job making seem like what you see is what really happened. Plus there’s the fact that Lynn had a hand in the production, so she did what she could to make sure it stayed true to life, showing all the good as well as the bad.

Of course, a film like this also depends on great performances. In the role of Loretta Lynn we had Sissy Spacek, who up until that time had only been in handful of films. Her most famous being that of the telekinetic teenager in ‘Carrie.” Who would have thought that she would have been able to deliver such a nuanced performance, let alone win and Academy Award for it? Of course, from that point on, Spacek has continued to prove herself to be a multi-talented actress with a long an illustrious career. Casting her alongside Tommy Lee Jones was also a great choice. As Doolittle, Jones not only towered over Spacek physically, but emotionally as well. He made her husband out to be strong-willed man, without going overboard and making him a monster.

Universal is releasing “Coal Miner’s Daughter” this month in an all-new DVD package, complete with a re-done Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound transfer and a nice little treasure trove of extra features. There’s a feature commentary by Sissy Spacek and director Michael Apted as well as an interview with Tommy Lee Jones. There’s even an additional interview with Lynn, who is joined by Apted. Though it is a little odd, you’ll also find a salute to the AFI and the film by former president George Bush.

“Coal Miner’s Daughter” is one of the better biopics that have come out of Hollywood, and this DVD release makes for a nice addition to any DVD collection.

Directed by: Michael Apted
Starring: Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, Beverly D’Angelo, Levon Helm
Extras: Feature Commentary with Sissy Spacek and Director Michael Apted, Tommy Lee Jones Remembers Coal Miner's Daughter, An Exclusive Interview with Loretta Lynn and Director Michael Apted, President George Bush Sr. Salutes AFI and Coal Miner's Daughter
Specifications: Widescreen (1.85:1), Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 2.0
Studio: Universal
Release Date: 9/13/2005
Region 1
MPAA Rating: PG
Website

We'll give Coal Miner's Daughter a B+.