Found in: Music Biopics
Coal Miner's Daughter

Coal Miner's Daughter

classified PG

Music Biopic Brunches

Film

Please note: This was screened in Aug 2017

Director
Michael Apted
Cast
Sissy Spacek,  Tommy Lee Jones,  Levon Helm,  Phyllis Boyens
Details
124 mins, 1980, USA

Sissy Spacek won a much-deserved Oscar for her vivid, thoroughly natural performance as music legend Loretta Lynn in Michael Apted’s thoughtful and endearing film charting her life from the depths of poverty in rural Kentucky to her evolution into the first lady of country music.

One of eight children born to struggling Kentucky coal miner Ted Webb (Levon Helm), Loretta (Spacek) marries Doolittle 'Mooney' Lynne (Tommy Lee Jones) young, having four children of her own by the time she was 20. But after getting spotted singing in local bars, she’s picked up by a small record label and records a demo. Desperate to take advantage of Loretta's initial success, Doolittle plans an extensive countrywide tour and the pair set out in a bid to push the new record. But as Loretta's star continues to rise, the stresses of trying to raise a family and an exhausting touring schedule begin to take their toll…

In a time before TV music channels started making star biographies into such formulaic fare, Coal Miner's Daughter was the real deal. No wooden portrait, this vibrant tale of a woman making her name in the world showed Loretta’s hard-country voice and tough, no-nonsense songs introduced a feminist mindset to Nashville years before the phrase "women's liberation" became common currency.


× Close

Help us make our website work better for you

We use Google Analytics to gather information on how our website is used. This information helps us to make changes to our website that improve the usefulness and overall experience for our visitors. If you would like to help us to make continuous improvements to our website, please allow us to set "first-party" cookies (only readable by us) so that we can distinguish visitors and gain greater insights.

Allow cookies for analytics Deny cookies for analytics