The Diva Series

I watched a sort of Diva Series last week with my dear chum Brandi: Coal Miner's Daughter, What's Love Got To Do With It and Sweet Dreams. Though Brandi and I love love LOVE divas and the biopics that tell their oft-tragic stories, I had issues with Sweet Dreams. The other two were superb.

Coal Miner's Daughter is remarkable mostly for Sissy Spacek's incredible portrayal. That was some obsessive mimicry, and while her voice could never match the timbre of the real Loretta, her singing was sensational! The movie hooked Brandi and me in immediately, and casting Tommy Lee Jones--whom we both consider to be creepy in just about every role--as her husband was eerily convincing. Because the movie was made with Loretta's collaboration, and using her biography, we had to assume that the horrifying wedding night rape scene and subsequent violent and outrageous behavior exhibited by said hubby were true. The movie certainly made us uncomfortable, and made us yell at the screen like we should. Even though she's not exactly sassy, wacky, and sharp-witted like most divas, we agreed that Loretta is a diva in terms of making savvy business deals and being a self-made sensation. Also, her singing costumes are DIVINE. I approved of this as a well-made drama, a convincing biopic, and a substantial portrayal of a country legend near and dear to my heart, which does, I'm sorry to admit it, Loretta, have a tendency to come home a drinkin' with lovin' on my mind. I hope you can forgive me.

We had both seen What's Love Got To Do With It before, and it was so amazing that it was worth watching again. Talk about a self-made sensation: Tina not only had overcome adversity to make it in a racist, sexist recording industry, she had to kick her abusive, controlling husband to the curb. Lawrence Fishburn was another eerily convincing casting choice. He gives us both the creeps in real life, and that was quite necessary for you to hate Ike as viciously as we do. Angela Bassett SHOULD have won an Oscar for this stellar, heart-stopping performance. I say that, but I'm a hypocrite, because that particular Oscar went to Holly Hunter, and anyone who's met me knows how much I love The Piano. That said, Angela Bassett poured her soul into this role. My only qualm with this film--and believe me, it's silly--is that Angela Bassett is so fucking ripped she could have beat the shit out of Ike. She is literally so ripped that it pushes the limits of plot plausibility. Also, it's too distracting for a lesbian to watch a woman that ripped and still be emotionally engaged in the film. (my spurious criticisms are another backhanded compliment: I can't find anything actually wrong with this movie)

Sweet Dreams, on the other hand...ugh. Brandi liked it, even though she only got to watch the first half, but I watched the whole damn thing and I gotta say, it does not do ANY justice to Patsy. We both noted how odd it was that the girl who plays Patsy's sister looks much more like Patsy than Jessica Langue. Yes, I know an actress doesn't have to look exactly like the icon she portrays--but it certainly helps! Babs may not look like Fanny Brice, but they've both got funny, striking faces. Langue did not feel much like the Patsy I've seen in old footage, nor did the film's portrayal of her career rise seem at all accurate. Patsy was much more in control and cavalier about her recording career, whereas the biopic made it seem like it sort of just happened to her, and that she was constantly distracted by her marriage to Charlie Dick. Her marriage is my other big beef with the film--from all I've read, they had a pretty solid marriage, and nobody could push Patsy around. She was a beast. I did not get the feeling that the movie did that marriage justice. She said Charlie was the love of her life, and she said that after a failed marriage and a long-term affair left her feeling pretty desolate. I believe her over the movie, and I doubt she was such a victim. Also, there was an awesome twist to the tragic story of her death that was not even used in the movie! You'd think a dramatic interpretation of somebody's life would use some of the best foreshadowing to ACTUALLY HAPPEN. It is recorded that Patsy had several premonitions of her death, and even started giving away lots of her stuff to friends (including Loretta Lynn, whom she mentored). Why would that not be included in the movie? It just seemed like a weak movie in many ways, although Brandi had to note that Ed Harris is a hottie pachotch of hubby casting. I'll have to trust her on that.