Sweet Dreams

Released October 1985

Starring Jessica Lange (as Patsy Cline), Ed Harris, Ann Wedgeworth, David Clennon, John Goodman
Directed by Karel Reisz
115 min.

Box office gross - 9.1 million

See complete credits at Internet Movie Database

“I’ve never played anyone so natural, so uncomplicated before. I’ve played so many parts where everything has been hidden or rumbling underneath, but Patsy had a way of hitting life head on, nothing neurotic about her.” - Jessica Lange in an interview for Horizon magazine

Patsy Cline is considered by many to be one of the greatest voices in country and western music. She was born in 1932 in Winchester, Virginia. Music came naturally to Patsy - she learned to play the piano by ear and learned to sing without any formal training. In 1957, she appeared on the Arthur Godfrey Talent Show and sang her first hit “Walkin After Midnight”. Shortly afterward, she met her second husband, Charlie Dick, at a local dance where she was performing. In 1960, Patsy went to Nashville and signed up with the agent Randy Hughes who saw her potential as a crossover artist and encouraged her to record more ballads instead of the earthy country/western tunes that she had been singing. She reluctantly took his advice and became an instant sensation recording such classics as “Crazy” and “I Fall To Pieces”. Tragically, Patsy Cline would only enjoy her lifelong dream of fame for two short years. She, along with Randy Hughes and two Opry members, were killed in an airplane crash near Camden, Tennessee, on March 5, 1963 after performing in a concert in Kansas City. She was 30 years old.

The success of Coal Miner’s Daughter, which starred Sissy Spacek, prompted the idea for a film about Patsy Cline. Producer Bernard Schwartz was approached by Universal Pictures to research Cline’s life and see if there was potential for a film there. After interviewing Cline’s friends and family members in Winchester, Virginia, he sent his extensive notes to screenwriter Robert Getchell, who wrote the script. Jessica Lange, a noted Patsy Cline fan, was sent the script and she loved it. There was concern at first because Lange could not sing and it was decided that Patsy Cline’s recordings would be used and Lange would lip sync.

Sweet Dreams begins with Patsy meeting Charlie Dick and goes on to chronicle their turbulent marriage and her struggle to become a successful singer. It is an honest film, unsentimental and straightforward and is sprinkled with many humorous moments. What really makes the film work is the cast. Ed Harris provides outstanding support as Charlie and Ann Wedgeworth is hilarious as Patsy’s mother (“I am sick and tired of hearing about that house with yellow roses!”). David Clennon is also memorable as Randy Hughes.

For many Jessica Lange fans (myself included), this is a favorite performance. It is one of the most colorful characters she has played and she takes full command of the role, delivering her lines in a throaty twang full of sass and vigor. Lange has always excelled at playing southern women and she is at her best here. She was nominated for an Academy Award but lost to Geraldine Page (A Trip To Bountiful).

Critical Sampling:

"Lange pours herself into her role, she gained 20 pounds and dares to prance around unashamed in a collection of magnificantly tawdry cowboy costumes. She's learned her West Virginia dialect well enough to use in high style... Though often ribald, Lange translates an innocent force into Cline, with assorted growls, yelps and down home hyperbole, and exudes earnest, simple heartfelt desire." - Tom O'Brien, Commonweal

"Jessica Lange keeps on astonishing. Her triumph as Patsy Cline is a stunner." - Richard Corliss, Time

"As Patsy Cline, Jessica Lange is sultry, nervy, delicate and altogether amazing." - Peter Travers, People

Back to Filmography

Crimes of the Heart