Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors

I look forward to seeing this movie every Christmas, but somehow I cannot find it to watch. What happened to the good, clean Christmas movies? This should be a yearly Movie just like Rudolf, Frosty, etc.

I watched this movie on a whim, without any foreknowledge of it, and was pleasantly surprised.

Too often, producers search for universal appeal by eschewing universal truths. This film is a very rare exception. Not only does it target the Christian viewer, but it does so with a fairly good narrative, which centers on family, love, and the power of redemption.

The acting is good, and the beautiful Appalachian scenery and talented singing are both notable.

There are references to the Bible, as well as one to Lucy Maud Montgomery (the writer of "Anne of Green Gables"). I can't tell you how refreshing it is to see open appeals to faith on TV.

By contrast, I recently saw an animated Christmas special which was blatantly ashamed of Christmas, but somehow still misappropriated the word in its title. "Coat" is not properly a Christmas special, as it does not specifically revolve around that day, but, if anything, this helps prevent it from falling into clichés.

A television film that I was eager to watch it since it is highly acclaimed. It is a Christian film, which won't mind, but they have highlighted that topic too strongly. What I've anticipated was something like 'Love Comes Softly'. Since it went on that way, missed the opportunity to be balanced in content. Now it is a target product for the believers. If you won't mind that, then it will be a good film that shows lots of good sides by pointing out the bads.

Based on the true story, that sets in the 1955, tells the story of a big farmer family living on the mountain, but all the focus was one of the children named Dolly. She's different than rest of her siblings. She's curious about the world, so mischievous and a good singer too. Her latest trouble takes a big price. Following, the family in a distress, that's going to change a few things forever in her life and everybody else.

First of all I know zero about the real Dolly Parton. Thanks to this film for her early life introduction, but still don't know much about her latter life. So expecting from the sequels to cover them up. For now, there's only one sequel, about the Christmas. Alyvia was really good. She reminded Abigail Breslin from 'Kit Kittredge'. The film mainly aimed for families, so they would surely enjoy it. I liked it too, but not that overexcited as before my watch.

6/10

This is a Christian family based film with a hint of having faith in one's religion regardless of how hard life can be sometimes. The truth being that life's journey for most of us is in fact a boiling pot of many happy times and memories that we have previously shared with our immediate family, as well as the great loss of life of one or more people/animals that are near and dear to our heart.

This is a film based on a young Dolly Parton at nine years of age growing up in the mountains of Tennessee with seven of her siblings. Little Dolly is the apparent apple of her parents' eye, even though she is full of spunk. The acting by all the main characters was more than believable with an admirable performance by a young actress named Alyvia Alyn Lind who plays young Dolly. The young Ms. Lind has already built herself a considerable resume with appearances in 16 various films and/or TV series. With this much work already under her belt I assume she must be home schooled and focused more on her acting career at the moment rather than on a typical bricks and mortar education and a typical childhood.

Excellent performances were also provided by Dolly's movie father Mr. Robert Lee Parton played by the seasoned actor Ricky Schroeder who coincidentally also got his first break at the age of 9 years starring opposite the veteran actor Jon Voight in a boxing film titled The Champ. Dolly's movie mother Avie Lee Parton was played superbly by the professional singer Jennifer Nettles, who is a member of the well-established Country band, Sugarland. Dolly's movie grandfather is the county's minister Reverend Jake Owens and played effectively by Gerald McRaney.

Dolly Parton herself narrates her own story as a 9 year old girl growing up in the Tennessee hills with her seven siblings, who lived off of the land her daddy sowed, surrounded by her parents' strong love even when tragedy hits the family hard. For those naysayers who prefer to say that this film was a bit hokey please remember this is a 90 minute film attempting to cover several months in young Dolly's life. The coat of many colors is not the focal point but only explains how Dolly wrote such a beautiful and successful song. As such what I am able to draw from this mini-biography film is that strong family based Christian characteristic that helped Dolly develop in to the beautiful and caring country and western singer that she has presented on stage, in public and private for decades, as well as her Christian faith that she has always said provides her with her inner strength.

There is good acting throughout the film, it is a good storied family film with some insight in to a young (9 years of age) Dolly Parton's family roots. Sure there are Academy Award dramas out there that are more memorable but Mrs. Sullivan and I were quite pleased with this family based biography film and as such I give it an 8 out of 10 rating.

Worthy is His name, and He works out all things for good, even in the difficult times of life. Sometimes we are so richly blessed, little Dolly with a big family, that we do not realize the blessing until He takes away part of it.

We do not understand why a child has to die so early, but forget that all those little children do not have to go through this hard school of life and work out their salvation with fear and trembling. They just go over into Eternity, because they do not know yet the difference between good and evil (Deu 1:39) and have not yet reached the Age of Accountability.

Remarkable actors (especially Dolly and her mother), beautiful settings, thrown back in time into a typical life of hard work and little diplomacy in words. And a story of a stubborn father, as so many out there, who refused to follow our faith, even though modeled at perfection by his wife. Her perseverance will be decisive.

* The only negative point of the movie is the scene where little Dolly argues with THEOS. This dialogue is overly dramatic and the language is nearly blasphemous. The script writers should not have chosen such language. We can utter our doubts and frustrations, but this one went way too far.