El precio del triunfo

Reality is generally more complicated than any motion picture can possibly convey--and such is the case with SWEET DREAMS, the 1985 bio-pic of singer Patsy Cline, which ran into a firestorm of criticism at the time of its release. For Patsy Cline was not a figure from the remote past. She and her life were extremely well recalled by family, friends, and co-workers, and one and all attacked the film as an extremely inaccurate portrait of her, her husband Charlie, and her life and career.

To a certain extent, the validity of these complaints about the film are a matter of opinion. But it does seem likely that the script softened Cline's harder edges and over-emphasized the stormy nature of her marriage in order to cast her in the role of victim. What isn't opinion is the way the film treats her career: it didn't happen like that, and while the film presents her as a great star at the time of her death in truth she had released only a handful of widely distributed records by 1963--and while some of them were big hits, they weren't quite as big as you might think. Even the celebrated "Sweet Dreams" never made it to the top spot on any music chart, and it was not until well after her death that she received full recognition for her remarkable work.

So instead of truth, or even a good approximation of it, SWEET DREAMS gives us the legend, the folk tale of the rough-and-tumble girl with the big, emotional voice who came from no where, married an abusive husband, and leaped into stardom that was cut short by an untimely death. And as legend, the film works very well.

The weak point of the film is the script, which plays largely to a "domestic drama" aspect and tends to smooth out the characters in a "santized for your protection" sort of way. The direction and cinematography are no great shakes either, and ultimately SWEET DREAMS looks very much like a made-for-television movie. But the cast carries it off in fine style. Jessica Lang looks no more like Patsy Cline than I do, and her lip-scynchs to Cline's work is rather hit-and-miss, but she gives a truly memorable performance; Ed Harris equals her in the role of husband Charlie, and together they create a synergy that has tremendous power. The supporting cast is also quite good, with Ann Wedgeworth a standout in the role of Cline's mother Hilda.

And then there is that soundtrack. Even if you've heard all these songs a thousand times, they're still worth hearing again. Patsy Cline was truly an amazing artist. But the film does something odd with them: the bulk of the story is set during the 1950s, but there is not a 1950s-era Cline vocal to be heard in the entire film, everything is taken from her glory years at MCA between 1960 and 1963. And very often it seemed to me that the original scoring of Cline's songs had been replaced with new arrangements.

And that, ultimately, is rather typical of the film as a whole. Just a little change here, just a little inaccuracy there, and while they all seem slight individually, they add up to a fairly significant distortion collectively. The performances make it worth watching, and they bring it in at a solid four stars. But if you're expecting anything more than the glossy legend of Patsy Cline, you won't find it here.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Fantastic! Jessica Lange and Ed Harris tell the tale of Patsy Cline's tragedies and triumphs. Bonus surprise seeing John Goodman in a few of the scenes. I was spurred on to see the film after viewing a documentary of Patsy Cline's life and wow-wee I knew what was coming and it was still shocking in many of the film's moments. Sadness.

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.

I highly suggest this movie, even if you are not a Patsy Cline fan. It is the touching story of Patsy's life, how she rose to success, and the struggles she encountered along the way.

Her story and songs are sure to touch anyone's heart because there is such feeling behind them. Jessica Lange and Ed Harris do a remarkable job portraying Patsy and her husband, Charlie. The on-screen magic makes you believe you are in the late 50's/early 60's watching the couple for yourself.

Run to the video store and check out this one tonight! You won't regret it.

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.