Sweet Dreams (1985)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Karel Reisz

Writer:

Robert Getchell (writer)

Release Date:

2 October 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Music

Plot:

Lange stunningly portrays Patsy Cline, the velvet-voiced country singer who died in a tragic plane crash. |

Plot Keywords:

Singer | Nostalgic | Fame | Songwriter | Career

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Jessica Lange	...	Patsy Cline
Ed Harris	...	Charlie Dick
Ann Wedgeworth	...	Hilda Hensley
David Clennon	...	Randy Hughes
James Staley	...	Gerald Cline
Gary Basaraba	...	Woodhouse
John Goodman	...	Otis
P.J. Soles	...	Wanda
Terri Gardner	...	Old Singer
Caitlin Kelch	...	Sylvia
Robert L. Dasch	...	John
Courtney Parker	...	Older Julie
Coulton Edwards	...	Baby Randy
Holly Filler	...	Madrine
Bruce Kirby	...	Arthur Godfrey

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Sweden:11 | USA:PG-13 | Canada:AA (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Hollywood Center Studios - 1040 N. Las Palmas Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Home Box Office (HBO)

Trivia:

At one point, Charlie asks Patsy what she's done all day and she responds, "I've been sipping champagne with Kirk Douglas". When the scene was filmed Jessica Lange actually said, "I've been sipping champagne with Rock Hudson", but Hudson was revealed to have had AIDS before the film was released and the producers thought a reference to him would be distracting.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: "You Send Me" by Sam Cooke, the song to which Patsy and her future husband dance, entered the American charts on October 21 1957.

Quotes:

Patsy Cline: I can't stand it. Makes me want to scream and claw my face.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Frasier: Sweet Dreams (#5.24)" (1998)

Soundtrack:

I Fall to Pieces

Standard retelling of country/pop legend Patsy Cline, uplifted by wondrous Jessica Lange.

Biopics are always a difficult nut to crack. It's never easy to condense the bigger-than-life story of a legendary celebrity into a two-hour movie and still provide the viewer a complete feeling of satisfaction. What it needs to do is not only highlight the well-known peaks and valleys of their career and personal life, but then, and most importantly, write choice, definitive scenes that will flesh out and humanize the character.

Chronicling the life of a famous country singer is especially tricky. So many things can go wrong. Severe miscasting, a hokey, superficial story line, an overly glossy, sanitary, and/or inaccurate treatment of the source. Many of these gals have had their hard-knock life stories laid out. Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, Dottie West, Tammy Wynette, Barbara Mandrell. The best of the film pickings is assuredly 1980's "Coal Miner's Daughter," Loretta Lynn's backwoods tale. And, fair or not, everything similarly produced since has been up for comparison. Thus, "Sweet Dreams," the retelling of country and pop superstar Patsy Cline (1932-1963), had a lot going against it by the time of its release, which was only five years after "Coal Miner's Daughter." Not only identical in heartache and rags-to-riches narrative, Patsy and Loretta Lynn were actually sisters at heart. They KNEW each other. And so, well, I'm surprised this biography came off as well as it did.

"Sweet Dreams" would be relatively fine on its own but it suffers in comparison to you-know-what. Shorter in scope, detail and focus, it is the star performances that rise above the conventional material here and earns what respect it gets. Patsy the Star is short-shrifted here, electing to concentrate more on Patsy the Woman and her stormy off-stage love life. Not necessarily a wrong decision, it's just that the execution lacks that creative spark. Despite the use of Cline's original soundtrack (superbly lip-synched here by Lange) to a number of her greatest hits ("Crazy," "Walkin' After Midnight" and the title tune), the movie rests on the fact that you already KNOW Patsy Cline became a BIG, BIG star. It doesn't capture the magic and electricity of Patsy that made her the star she was.

Jessica Lange is absolutely luminous as Patsy. She does her proud. Neglecting Kline's entire childhood, the film begins with her in the mid-50s, weighed down by a stalled career and a benign, boring husband. Lange captures the essence and spirit of the feisty, indomitable Cline. Like a restless stallion, she breaks free and shakes up her life, tangling with a reckless, kick-ass cowboy who she hopes will put the twang back in her life. With Charlie Dick (played with macho flair by Ed Harris), Patsy gets much more than she bargained for. With a last name like "Dick," you know this is going to be a fightin' man with a short-trigger. The virile, blue-eyed Harris is the perfect tough-and-tumble co-star. He's so damn good when he's bad, and sexy to boot. He does more than justice to the real Charlie, who had little of Harris' charisma. The two stars show real chemistry here and it ends up being the film's strongest suit.

In support, Ann Wedgeworth as Patsy's careworn mom (remember her from "Three's Company?") finally drops the tawdry, superficial "Mrs. Robinson" stereotype she's done way too much of, and offers us a deeply-felt portrayal of a quiet, strongly spiritual down-home woman who stands behind her girl through thick or thin. Basically a stage actress, this is Wedgeworth's finest film role to date. Meanwhile, John Goodman gives us another broad, healthy dose of comedy relief as Harris' brawling bar buddy, while P.J. Soles offers her cushiony 'other slutty girlfriend' routine.

But, alas, "Sweet Dreams" has been done before...and better Potential female country singing star marries lusty, hard-drinking ne'er-do-well. The wife becomes a big success. The dirty dog slides into his lyin', cheatin' ways. They fight. They make up. And over again. It offers no new or unique approach to the standard female slogan, "Can't live with him, can't live without him."