This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Fantastic! Jessica Lange and Ed Harris tell the tale of Patsy Cline's tragedies and triumphs. Bonus surprise seeing John Goodman in a few of the scenes. I was spurred on to see the film after viewing a documentary of Patsy Cline's life and wow-wee I knew what was coming and it was still shocking in many of the film's moments. Sadness.

"...instead of having sweet dreams about you." Jessica Lange stars as the unforgettable Patsy Cline in this very entertaining, rags-to-riches bio pic. The story opens in the fifties, and Patsy is singing in small-time honky tonks in Virginia. There, she meets charming Charlie Dick (Ed Harris) who woos her and they soon marry. The marriage is rocky and intense, Patsy's career takes off, and her songs go national.Patsy's original recordings are heard throughout the movie and, if you're a fan, you'll absolutely love hearing them again. Lange gives a very good performance as the spirited Patsy and was nominated for Best Actress, but for me, Ed Harris steals the show. He plays Charlie as a rough and rowdy, uncouth but lovable man and is totally charismatic. Look closely and spot a thin John Goodman in a small part.Though the story is equal parts fact and fiction, it is very enjoyable with a fast-paced script and, most of all, Patsy's memorable songs. Highly recommended.

Patsy Cline is not very known in Europa but her influence can be heard in country music :it marks her as an important antecedent for all kinds of later figures ,from Dolly Parton to Linda Rondstadt.Elvis Costello covered "sweet dreams" on her "almost blue" country album.This biopic owes a lot to its two principals: Jessica Lange as the singer whose life and career tragically ended and Ed Harris,a reluctant draftee then a violent but tender husband :I like his scene when he 's alone in the room listening to his wife's record,the only thing that's left to him.Lange is dubbed for the songs ,a good thing cause we can hear Cline's real voice.She wanted to be Hank Williams ,another artist whose fate was tragic.NB: In the late fifties, a radio is playing Presley's "can't help falling in love".If my memory serves me well,this song was part of "blue Hawai" soundtrack,which was released only in 1961.

As an avid Patsy Cline fan, I've done quite a bit of research on her life since seeing this film in 1985. The film, while good and very dramatic, doesn't portray the Cline that her family and friends seemed to know. In fact her own mother said of the film in a1 985 People Magazine article "The producers told me they were going to make a love story. I saw the film once. That was enough." While Jessica Lange fabulously captures Cline's mannerisms on stage and off, Cline is portrayed in this film as a victim of domestic violence, when, in real life those who knew her describe her as an outspoken, strong willed fighter who didn't take anything off of anybody. The film focuses more on the tragedy in her life rather than the triumph of her career, often making it very depressing and dark. The inaccuracies throughout the film are numerous, most significantly with the plane crash that takes her life as being depicted as crashing into a mountain, when in fact it crashed into a forest. While the film served as a wonderful vehicle to promote Cline's legacy and introduce her music to newer generations, Sweet Dreams failed to capture the many facets of Cline's life and personality, including her giving spirit to countless friends and her hilarious sense of humor. Sweet Dreams is worth viewing, but don't take it as 100% factual. Hollywood took her story and made it their own.