Sweet Dreams

Karel Reisz's film tells the story of Patsy Cline without settling into the usual shape of a musician biography. Cline, played by Jessica Lange, is working small venues across three states when she meets Charlie Dick, played by Ed Harris, and the film's real subject becomes not fame but that marriage: charming, aggressive, violent, and one Cline cannot leave. In the musical sequences Lange lip-syncs to Cline's original recordings. The choice gives the film an odd honesty, since Cline's voice is not imitated but simply heard, with Lange supplying only the body. Lange was nominated for Best Actress for the role, the film's only nomination, and lost to Geraldine Page. Ann Wedgeworth and John Goodman are also in the cast. Who it is for: viewers who like country music and biographies that narrow to a single relationship. Who it is not for: anyone wanting a career narrative, or troubled by scenes of domestic violence.