Sweet Dreams

I have watched this movie at least 30 times. Patsy Cline is one of my absolute favorite country singers, as I grew up in the 50's and she was both a pop and country chart topper. I also grew up in northern Minnesota, so when a fellow Minnesotan played the role of Patsy, I had to see this movie. Jessica Lange was dynamic in portraying Patsy as someone who "just wanted to make things right". The other actors in the movie also deserved oscar nominations along with Jessica, as they completed this story. This movie is being shown a lot lately on HBO, TNT, CMT, and AMC. I highly recommend it.

I will say at the onset that I thought Beverly D"Angelo was a slightly better Patsy Cline ..at least, she looked more like Patsy, who was fairly Rubenesque in real life. Still, Jessica Lange captures the sassy, spunky, bawdy spirit of the great Cline. Ed Harris ( always superb) is wonderful, capturing Charlie Dicks tender side, as well as the time when he acted like, like , well, a dick.Anne Wedgeworth, a fine under-used actress was good as Patsy's mother. In short, one of the few good "Country" movies ever made.

For those of you that thought "Sweet Dreams" was a stupid movie, well that's fine, but not in my opinion. "Sweet Dreams" tells a story, one of the greatest stories imaginable, I mean yeah it's not no fairy tale, but the life of The Legendary Patsy Cline is a very warm-hearted story to tell. I just saw the movie on VH1 about 3 months ago, I was messing with some things around the house and could not watch a lot of it. But, then about a mounth later it came on CMT and I finally watch it in it's entirity. I loved it so much I ordered it on DVD. It's just very neat how are these stars like Roy Rogers, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Barbra Mandrell, and Patsy Cline can pave the way to stardom easy for new country stars like Martina Mcbride, Jo Dee Messina, and Kenny Chesney, and to make a movie like "Sweet Dreams" that tells a story about one of these people is very Sweet and I give an applause to Hollywood for making it. I also give "Sweet Dreams" two thumbs up, I mean I'm not no Roger Ebert, but, I know a good movie when I see one, and this one is to good not to miss. Jessica Lange gives a awesome performance of Patsy Cline, not to mention Ed Harris as her dim-witted husband Charlie Dick. With all the crap that Patsy has to put up with, like her car crash, or that she's pregnant, she stll makes it to stardom with her hit song "Crazy". Also, speaking of songs Jessica Lange did an awesome jod of lip-syncing them. Out of "Great Balls of Fire", "La Bamba", and, "Coal Miner's Daughter", "Sweet Dreams"- (Jessica Lange & Ed Harris)The Legendary Story OF Patsy Cline is, The Best one Yet.

As a cinematic biography of country/western singer Patsy Cline, "Sweet Dreams" is fairly good. The story takes place mostly in the 50s and 60s during which time she had already begun singing in local honky-tonks. The film's plot is straightforward and easy to follow. Production design is excellent. Overall acting quality is credible, with good performances from Jessica Lange as Patsy Cline; reliable Ed Harris as Patsy's redneck husband, Charlie Dick; and wonderful Ann Wedgeworth as Patsy's mother. Profuse country/western music helps make the film even more enjoyable, though I wish they could have found a spot in the film for "Faded Love", one of Cline's most popular songs.

Patsy was talented, ambitious, frustrated, determined, and outgoing. Charlie Dick comes across in the film as a jerk. And my main complaint about this film is that too much time is spent on him, rather than on Patsy and her career. The film's climax is not entirely consistent with known facts; but it is very dramatic.

"Sweet Dreams" will appeal to older viewers, as well as to those who like country/western music. And, of course, being a biography, the film will appeal to viewers who like real life stories.

I thought this movie was great. I caught it on TNT and fell in love with the characters. Jessica Lange and Ed Harris portray Patsy and Charlie so well you feel like you are a part of her success and tragic death. It rivals "Coal Miners Daughter" in the telling of country greats. I recommend this for anyone who would like to see Jessica Lange at her best.