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Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, Beverly D'Angelo, Levon Helm, Phyllis Boyens ... see more see more... , Ernest Tubb , Robert Elkins , Bob Hannah , Bill Anderson Jr. , Foster Dickerson , Malla McCown , Pamela McCown , Kevin Salvilla , Sissy Lucas , Brian Warf , Elizabeth Watson , David Barry Gray , J. Michael Baish , Charles Kahlenberg , Merle Kilgore , Susan Kingsley , Gary Parker , William Sanderson , David Thornhill , Frank Mitchell , Billy Strange , Jim Webb , Doug Bledsoe , Royce Clark , Allison Caine , Billy West , Pat Patterson

Loretta Lynn was one of the first female superstars in country music and remains a defining presence within the genre; with her strong, clear, hard-country voice and tough, no-nonsense songs about hus... read more read more...bands who cheat and wives who weren't about to be pushed around, Lynn introduced a feminist mindset to Nashville years before the phrase "women's liberation" became common currency. Coal Miner's Daughter is a screen adaptation of Lynn's autobiography, starring Sissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn. One of eight children born to Ted Webb (Levon Helm), a coal miner raising a family despite grinding poverty in Butcher's Holler, KY, Loretta married Dolittle "Mooney" Lynn (Tommy Lee Jones) when she was only 13 years old. A mother of four by the time she was 20, Lynn began singing the occasional song at local honky-tonks on weekends, and at 25, she cut (at Mooney's suggestion) a demo tape that earned her a deal with an independent record label. Loretta and Mooney's tireless promotion of the record (including a long road trip through the south in which they stopped at every country radio station they could find) paid off -- Loretta's first single, "Honky Tonk Girl," hit the charts and earned her a spot on the Grand Ole Opry. Stardom called and Loretta never looked back, but success brought with it both joy (a long string of hit records and sold-out concerts and a close friendship with Patsy Cline) and sorrow (a nervous breakdown brought on by overwork and a great deal of stress to a marriage that endured -- but just barely). Sissy Spacek won an Academy award for her vivid, thoroughly natural performance as Loretta (she also did her own singing), and Levon Helm (drummer for the legendary rock group the Band) made an impressive screen debut as her father. Ernest Tubb makes a cameo appearance as himself. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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80% liked it

34,982 ratings

Critics

100% liked it

11 critics

PG, 2 hr. 5 min.

Directed by: Michael Apted

Release Date: March 7, 1980

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DVD Release Date: May 6, 2003

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Stats: 1,133 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,133)

  • stormyweather980
    August 15, 2009
    stormyweather980
    My aunt and cousin were watching "The Coal Miner's Daughter" and I wasn't really wanting to watch it. There wasn't anything else to do, so I watched it. It was actually a pretty good movie. It tells the biography of Loretta Lynn all the way from how she struggled becoming a mothe... read morer at the age of 14 all the way to when she forgot the lyrics on stage one night. It also has everything in between such as her becoming friends with Patsy Cline and how she achieved superstardom and became the queen of country music.
    Sissy Spacek and Tommy Lee Jones put on great performances as do the others in the movie. Sissy Spacek sings all the songs herself and does a great job as Loretta Lynn. If you like biographical movies, you need to see "The Coal Miner's Daughter." NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2000 of this great film from the year I was born. Surprised its average rating here on Flixster isn't higher. Would like to see it again, even though I'm not a fan of much old (i.e., older than 80's) country.
  • Redlats
    April 9, 2008
    Redlats
    Movie's OK. I would probably rate it higher if I could stand country music.
  • jjnxn
    August 30, 2007
    jjnxn
    sissy and tommy lee are both very very good but the film could have used a little editing.
  • webalina
    May 21, 2007
    webalina
    I think Sissy Spacek was channeling Loretta Lynn somehow. Fantastic performance, especially since Sissy did all her own singing, 25 years before Jamie Foxx and Joaquin Phoenix. Great movie.
  • fb653545547
    March 25, 2012
    fb653545547
    Buoyed by a stellar performance from Sissy Spacek, Coal Miner's Daughter does exactly what it sets out to do: tell the story of country music superstar Loretta Lynn, warts and all. Sure, some aspects were undoubtedly left out for one reason or another, but the film includes just... read more enough of those moments to feel authentic. Neither CMD nor Spacek shy away from the more controversial aspects of the singers life, including her marriage before she was 14 and a somewhat rocky marriage. Yet the film never wallows in the negative; it embraces everything, channeling all of it to form a complete picture of the outspoken singer.
  • crazydannielle16
    September 15, 2008
    crazydannielle16
    I was surprised to find this beautiful gem of a movie and can't believe that I hadn't heard of it before. The acting was Oscar worthy and the script was true to life. It was a really nice treat. If movies were foods, this would be a chocolate cake.
  • irisheyes686
    March 22, 2010
    irisheyes686
    This movie was really good! The cast was great, and Spacek did an awesome job in her role. She and Jones worked really well together.
  • ileo
    December 13, 2007
    ileo
    A great movie!
  • ilive4discus
    March 2, 2007
    ilive4discus
    Really good!!! Sissy Spacek is amazing in this Academy Award winning performance, and Tommy Lee Jones is great...as always.
  • rainmonkey13
    March 4, 2012
    rainmonkey13
    I really liked this one, I'm not really sure why. He was so good to her at times then such a dick at others. I can't believe she had her so many kids and so young. I really like these older country stories :P

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Critic Reviews

Heather Boerner
December 18, 2010
Heather Boerner, Common Sense Media

Loretta Lynn's tough but heartwarming biopic. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
February 8, 2008
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Though a classic rags to riches saga, this biopic of Loretta Lynn doesn't fall victim to cliches, and benefits immensely from the astonishingly authentic turn from Sissy Spacek, who does her own singi... Full Review

Jon Niccum
September 10, 2004
Jon Niccum, Lawrence Journal-World

Superior biopic with an unforgettable performance by Sissy Spacek

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
May 9, 2003
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

This uplifting drama, based on Loretta Lynn's autobiography, shows how her marriage kept changing to accommodate her career as the First Lady of country music. Full Review

October 18, 2008
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Janet Maslin
January 15, 2005
Janet Maslin, New York Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Roger Ebert
October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Christopher Null
December 6, 2005
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com

Click to read the article Full Review

Daniel M. Kimmel
May 14, 2004
Daniel M. Kimmel, Worcester Telegram & Gazette

No review available.

Carol Cling
February 20, 2004
Carol Cling, Las Vegas Review-Journal

No review available.

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Facts

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    • Loretta Lynn: [waving fists in a full length gown, coming off stage] All I could hear was them dad-burn drums, a-beatin' in my ears!
    • Loretta Lynn: [performing for her children, but her sons are wrestling] You boys quit fightin' and listen to me sing!
    • Loretta Lynn: If you boys don't settle down on this porch I'm gonna have to whup you!
    • Loretta and Mooney's Child: That's right?
    • Radio Station Manager: You're number fourteen, nationwide!
    • Loretta Lynn: Doolittle; are you leavin'?
    • Doolittle "Mooney" Lynn: [come back in the house] Naw, Loretta; *I* ain't leavin'.
    • Patsy Cline: [Loretta and Doolittle are fighting in the parking lot] Get in the car, Loretta! Get in the damn car and drive, Charlie!
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Coal Miner's Daughter Trivia

  • Who portrayed Loretta Lynn in the movie, "Coal Miner's Daughter?  Answer »
  • Beverly D'Angelo was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in Coal Miner's Daughter?  Answer »
  • Beverly D'Angelo portrayed Patsy Cline in Coal Miner's Daughter ?   Answer »
  • Who plays Loretta Lynn on Coal miner's daughter?  Answer »
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