Sweet Dreams

If Loretta Lynn could have a movie made about her life story, and if Kenny Rogers could make several TV movies out of one cheesy album, then it only makes sense that a film about the life and times of country great Patsy Cline should be up there as well. Sweet Dreams is a fitting tribute to this timeless star.

Jessica Lange plays the sharp tongued crooner, in a bio pic that takes us from her upcoming days as a bored housewife, to one of Nashville's biggest sensations. As the film opens Patsy is bored and ready to leave a failed marriage. She meets up with lady-killer Charlie Dick (played by Ed Harris) and their torrid romance begins.

As their love affair takes off, so does Patsy's career. She is a hit on a national talent show, which gives her to platform from which to launch her music career. From there she stops everything to have children and take on life as an army wife.

Still unsatisfied, Patsy goes back to making music and meets up with a producer who feels her true talent lies in making ballads. They hook up and the rest is history.

Sweet Dreams is a slow-moving, but well made little film. Lange carries the story, sinking her acting chops into a loud, showy role, quite different from most of her other work. Ed Harris plays well too as the womanizing husband, jealous of his wife's success.

The film covers all of Patsy's highlights from 1956 right through to the devastating plane crash that took her life in 1962. One disappointment was the fact that the film put Patsy's career in the shadows, referring to it only between commentary about her romance with Charlie Dick. The film rarely takes the opportunity to explore the phenomenon that Patsy Cline became in such a short time.

Fans of Cline might be disappointed with Sweet Dreams, but Lange fans can be rest assured that this is one of her best performances. Brassy, bold and sexy, she is the one to watch!

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

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.

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 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.