Coal Miner's Daughter

Loretta Lynn chose the person who would play her. While Michael Apted was looking for a lead, Lynn fixed on a photograph of Sissy Spacek and decided she was right without having seen any of her work. The singing is not mimed either. Spacek sang every note in the film herself, with Lynn's blessing; she worked with her, copied her phrasing, tone and twang, and reached the point where she could pass for her on record. Loretta Webb grows up in a Kentucky mining town, marries at thirteen, has four children, and starts writing songs on a cheap guitar her husband bought her, becoming the biggest name in country music. Tommy Lee Jones plays her husband Doolittle, Beverly D'Angelo plays Patsy Cline, and Levon Helm plays her father. The film received seven Oscar nominations including Best Picture, and Spacek won Best Actress. Who it is for: viewers who want one of the best examples of the music-biography form, told without romanticising the escape from poverty. Who it is not for: anyone wanting pace. It runs over two hours, and the last section, built on exhaustion, is openly heavy.