Review of Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) by Holly M — 14 Apr 2006

[b]Coal Miner's Daughter[/b], directed by Michael Apted, is the wonderful biography of country superstar Loretta Lynn. Sissy Spacek stars as Loretta Lynn, one of eight children born into poverty. Her father Ted (Levon Helm) is a coal miner who does his best to provide for his family, but the odds are stacked against Loretta and the other children. At the age of 13 she meets Doolittle "Mooney" Lynn (Tommy Lee Jones) a cocky man who has just returned from WWII. He isn't much interested in life as a coal miner and takes an interest in young Loretta. At the age of 13 she marries Doolittle and immediatly begins having babies, four by the time she reaches the age of 20. Loretta sings to her children, and Doolittle takes notice of her talent, buying her a guitar. He begins acting as her manager, securing a gig at a nearby honky tonk. This leads to cutting a record, which eventually becomes her first hit. Loretta forges a friendship with Patsy Cline (Beverly D'Angelo) and soon becomes a huge star. She also becomes more idependent, and Dolittle feels abandoned.

[i]Coal Miner's Daughter [/i]remains one of the best musical biographies ever filmed. Loretta Lynn's ags to riches story is prefect for film, but what makes this sucj a memorable experience is Sissy Spacek's amazing performance. She won a well-deserved Oscar for her role. Tommy Lee Jones is also very good in this film as are supporting characters Levon Helm and Beverly D'Angelo. It's an excellent film.

[b]The Color Purple,[/b] directed by Steven Spielberg,is a heartfelt, epic tale spanning 40 years of the life of a poor Southern black woman named Celie (Whoopi Goldberg). At an early age, Celie is virtually sold into marriage, becoming seperated from her sister Nettie. Her abusive and domineering husband Albert (Danny Glover) doesn't want Celie to read any of Nettie's letters, so he hides them and forbids Celie to go to the mailbox. Celie is more of a servant than a wife, but she soon gets a different perspective when Albert's oldest son from a previous marriage Harpo (William E. Pugh) marries the independent and opinionated Sofia (Oprah Winfrey). Soon Celie gains another friend in Albert's old mistress Shug (Margaret Avery) a free-spirited singer. Celie's relationship with these two women help her gain confidence in herself, and later give her confidence to stand up to Albert.

I consider [i]The Color Purple[/i] to be one of Spielberg's finest accomplishments. For some reason, this film has recieved more later day backlash than other films considered to be Spielberg classics, which I find quite odd. Is it overly sentimental? Yes, but how many Spielberg films can also make that claim? Most of them can. It's an extremely emotional story throughout, and unlike a few other Spielberg films the sentimental ending feels like a natural progression for the Celie character. If anyone deserves to triumph, it's her. Another criticism I've heard from a few male critics is that this film is overly biased and negative towards men. Poor fellas! Yes the main male character Albert is selfish and abusive, but even his character eventually gets a small redemption. Celie's father was also abusive. It's a fact of life that some men can be very abusive, and if a film explores the female perspective regarding these issues so be it. For every film that takes a Feminist slant there are say 100 that incorporate female nudity that does nothing to further a storyline. The fact is that [i]The Color Purple [/i]is a wonderful film with something very important to say. Beautiful cinematography and wonderful performances from Whoopi Goldberg (who I normally don't like), Oprah Winfrey, Margaret Avery and Danny Glover. A Spielberg classic.

[b]Enemies: A Love Story[/b], directed by Paul Mazursky, stars Ron Silver as Herman, a man who survives Nazi occupation during WWII and now resides in New York City. He believes his wife Tamara (Anjelica Huston) perished in a concentration camp and ends up marrying Yadwiga (Margaret Sophie Stein) who's famliy helped hide him from the Nazis. Before that, Yadwiga worked for Herman and Tamara. Yadwiga is very devoted to Herman, but he isn't compltely satisfied so he takes on a mistress Masha (Lena Olin). When Masha becomes pregnant, Herman marries her as well. Things get further complicated when his first wife Tamara reeappears. How can Herman many to juggle three marraiages without the other wives finding out?

[i]Enemies [/i]is a finely crafted story featuring stellar performances, particularly the Oscar nominated Huston and Olin. It's a drama with some highly comedic moments, especially from Anjelica Huston. Well worth seeing.