''Sweet Dreams'' is a 1985 American

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

which tells the story of

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer

Patsy Cline Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, Patrice, or Patricia). Among I ...

. The film was written by

Robert Getchell Robert Getchell (December 6, 1936 – October 21, 2017) was an American screenwriter. Getchell wrote the 1974 film '' Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore'' and created the sitcom based on that film, '' Alice''. Getchell was also the screenwriter for ...

and directed by

Karel Reisz Karel Reisz (21 July 1926 – 25 November 2002) was a Czech-born British filmmaker, one of the pioneers of the new realist strain in British cinema during the 1950s and 1960s. Two of the best-known films he directed are ''Saturday Night and Sun ...

. It stars

Jessica Lange Jessica Phyllis Lange (; born April 20, 1949) is an American actress. She is the 13th actress to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, having won two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award, along with a Screen Actors G ...

Ed Harris Edward Allen Harris (born November 28, 1950) is an American actor and filmmaker. His performances in ''Apollo 13'' (1995), ''The Truman Show'' (1998), ''Pollock'' (2000), and '' The Hours'' (2002) earned him critical acclaim and Academy Award n ...

Ann Wedgeworth Elizabeth Ann Wedgeworth (January 21, 1934 – November 16, 2017) was an American character actress, known for her roles as Lana Shields in ''Three's Company'', Hilda Hensley in '' Sweet Dreams'', and Merleen Elldridge in ''Evening Shade''. She w ...

David Clennon David Clennon (born May 10, 1943) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Miles Drentell in the ABC series ''thirtysomething'' and ''Once and Again'', as well as his role as Palmer in the John Carpenter film '' The Thing''. He ha ...

, James Staley,

Gary Basaraba Gary Basaraba (born March 16, 1959) is a Canadian actor. He appeared as Sergeant Richard Santoro on Steven Bochco's ''Brooklyn South'' and Officer Ray Hechler on the critically acclaimed but short-lived ''Boomtown''. He has worked for Martin ...

John Goodman John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is an American actor. He gained national fame for his role as the family patriarch Dan Conner in the ABC comedy series '' Roseanne'' (1988–1997; 2018), for which he received a Golden Globe Award, an ...

, and

P. J. Soles Pamela Jayne Soles (née Hardon; born July 17, 1950) is a German-born American actress. She made her film debut in 1976 as Norma Watson in Brian De Palma's '' Carrie'' (1976) before portraying Lynda van der Klok in John Carpenter's ''Halloween'' ...

. The film was nominated for

Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. ...

(

). For all the musical sequences, Lange lip-synced to the original Patsy Cline recordings. The soundtrack of the same name was released in September 1985.

Plot

Patsy Cline (

), unhappily married and planning to divorce, is playing small-time gigs in the tri-state area of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

, and

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

when she meets Charlie Dick (

), whose charm and aggressive self-confidence catch her attention. After her divorce, Patsy and Charlie marry, and she is free to pursue music and, later, focus on raising their children. After Charlie gets drafted into the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

, Patsy focuses on singing more, and after joining forces with manager Randy Hughes, she becomes a rising star on the country music scene. However, Patsy's success fuels her self-confidence, much to Charlie's annoyance, and he becomes increasingly physically and emotionally abusive as Patsy attempts to assert her independence. Patsy is at the peak of her popularity as one of the first great female stars of country music when she dies in a

plane crash An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the ''intention of fl ...

on March 5, 1963, at the age of 30.

Production

Many actresses wanted the role of Patsy Cline, including Meryl Streep, but she was turned down. This would be one of the infamous three times the actress was denied a role. Jessica Lange was eventually signed on for the role, and has said that making the film was a very enjoyable experience for her. Lange did not do any of her own singing in the film, instead the actress lip-synced to Cline's original recordings. This practice was notably used 33 years earlier, when

Susan Hayward Susan Hayward (born Edythe Marrenner; June 30, 1917 – March 14, 1975) was an American film actress, best known for her film portrayals of women that were based on true stories. After working as a fashion model for the Walter Thornton Model A ...

lip-synced to

Jane Froman Ellen Jane Froman (November 10, 1907 – April 22, 1980) was an American actress and singer. During her thirty-year career, she performed on stage, radio and television despite chronic health problems due to injuries sustained in a 1943 plane cra ...

's vocals in 20th Century Fox's production of With A Song In My Heart. The film was originally titled I Fall To Pieces, after Cline's signature song, before the producer's eventually changed it to Sweet Dreams.

Historical Inaccuracies

Many events depicted in the film are not accurate to the actual historical events. Leading up to the famous car crash, Patsy was not in fact buying beer, but actually going to pick up material for her mother to make new costumes for her shows. The most blatantly inaccurate sequence is the fatal plane crash that took Cline's life. In the film, the plane is seen striking the side of a mountain and exploding on impact. In reality, the small aircraft crashed into a forest, hitting trees which ripped the plane apart on the way down. It is also important to note that there is no evidence of mechanical issues leading up to the crash, it is more likely that it was simply the heavy fog that caused pilot Randy Hughes to lose control of the plane. Patsy's mother Hilda Hensley was not a fan of the film, speaking publicly against it in several interviews.

Cast

as Charlie Dick, Patsy's husband *

as Hilda Patterson Hensley, Patsy's mother *

as Randy Hughes, Patsy's manager and pilot of the ill-fated aircraft in which they, Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins were killed * James Staley as Gerald Cline, Patsy's first husband *

as Woodhouse *

as Otis *

as Wanda *

Jerry Haynes Jerome Martin "Jerry" Haynes (January 31, 1927 – September 26, 2011) was an American actor from Dallas, Texas. He is most well known as Mr. Peppermint, a role he played for 30 years as the host of one of the longest-running local children's show ...

as Legendary

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

Producer

Owen Bradley William Owen Bradley (October 21, 1915 – January 7, 1998) was an American musician and record producer who, along with Chet Atkins, Bob Ferguson, Bill Porter, and Don Law, was one of the chief architects of the 1950s and 1960s Nashville sou ...

* Dennis Saylor as Extra (uncredited) *

Boxcar Willie Lecil Travis Martin (September 1, 1931 – April 12, 1999), whose stage name was Boxcar Willie, was an American country music singer-songwriter, who sang in the "old-time hobo" music style, complete with dirty face, overalls, and a floppy hat. ...

as man in jail with Charlie

Reception

Noted film critic

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the film two out of four stars, writing:

There isn't the sense of a well-shaped structure in this movie; there's no clear idea of what the filmmakers thought about Patsy Cline, or what thoughts her life is supposed to inspire.

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

gave the film a 65 rating. The film is recognized by

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

in these lists: * 2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs: ** "

Crazy Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or t ...

" – Nominated As of April 2021, the film holds a rating of 90% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

from 20 reviews.

Awards and nominations

Soundtrack

References

External links

* * * *
Trailer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweet Dreams 1985 films American biographical drama films 1980s musical drama films Biographical films about musicians Biographical films about singers Country music films Films directed by Karel Reisz Films shot in West Virginia Musical films based on actual events TriStar Pictures films Cultural depictions of Patsy Cline 1985 drama films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films