Sissy Spacek earned the Oscar for Best Actress for playing the lead in "Coal Miner's Daughter" and I can certainly understand why. However, I must admit that while I really respected her performance, I didn't particularly care for the film. On the strength of her performance alone I give the film a 7.
So what did I dislike about the film? Well, it all boils down to not caring one bit about the characters. While this is a true story, I just didn't see any compelling reason to care about them or want to see the film and I found myself becoming rather bored. So what if Loretta Lynn went from being dirt poor to becoming a rich singing sensation? This alone was not enough for me. Her husband seemed like a jerk and she seemed a bit pathetic in the film--like they were guests on "The Jerry Springer Show" who just couldn't let each other go. He screamed, cursed and acted trashy. And, she mostly put up with it. When she did put her foot down, it wasn't very hard and the film ends with just this sick couple--and no resolution. To me, there just was no compelling reason to see the film other than to marvel at the singing of Spacek (and Beverly D'Angelo, now that I think about it). I just don't understand the devotion people feel to this film--even though it IS well made.
By the way, to set the record straight, Loretta was actually 15, not 13, when married--which wasn't that unusual for the time. I assume they made her appear to be 13 to create greater tension or dramatic impact.
So what did I dislike about the film? Well, it all boils down to not caring one bit about the characters. While this is a true story, I just didn't see any compelling reason to care about them or want to see the film and I found myself becoming rather bored. So what if Loretta Lynn went from being dirt poor to becoming a rich singing sensation? This alone was not enough for me. Her husband seemed like a jerk and she seemed a bit pathetic in the film--like they were guests on "The Jerry Springer Show" who just couldn't let each other go. He screamed, cursed and acted trashy. And, she mostly put up with it. When she did put her foot down, it wasn't very hard and the film ends with just this sick couple--and no resolution. To me, there just was no compelling reason to see the film other than to marvel at the singing of Spacek (and Beverly D'Angelo, now that I think about it). I just don't understand the devotion people feel to this film--even though it IS well made.
By the way, to set the record straight, Loretta was actually 15, not 13, when married--which wasn't that unusual for the time. I assume they made her appear to be 13 to create greater tension or dramatic impact.