Coal Miner's Daughter: 25th Anniversary Edition

Sissy Spacek won an Oscar for Best Actress playing Grammy Award-winning country music star Loretta Lynn, a backwoods Kentucky gal who met and married her husband Doo (Tommy Lee Jones) at the age of 13. Directed by Michael Apted (Gorillas in the Mist), the film chronicles Lynn's being pushed into showbiz by Doo, and the many ups and downs of her adult life, including her spouse's philandering and Lynn's infamous emotional breakdowns on stage. Between all the biographical details, however, the script by Tom Rickman is full of humor and vitality, and the colorful performances by the two leads make this one of the better Hollywood bio-pics. Presented with a fine-looking widescreen transfer, DVD extras include a commentary track by Apted and Spacek, interviews with Jones and Lynn, and a pointless five-minute clip of former President Bush, Sr. at an AFI salute rambling on about the “war on drugs,” among other unrelated topics. Highly recommended. (T. Keogh)