Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors (2015)

Let me first start by saying that now days its really hard to find a family movie that can be free of sexual scenes, profanity language that at the same time can be entertaining. I enjoyed this movie from start to finish.My family ages, 43, 39, 7,14 watched this movie together and would watch it again. The movie is not about how Dolly got famous, but more about redemption, love and how Dolly's family despite being very poor had it all ( love, GOD, faith, moral).It leaves a strong message and cannot wait to see it again on Christmas day, as it was announced it was a hit with 13 million viewers nationwide.

This is a Christian family based film with a hint of having faith in one's religion regardless of how hard life can be sometimes. The truth being that life's journey for most of us is in fact a boiling pot of many happy times and memories that we have previously shared with our immediate family, as well as the great loss of life of one or more people/animals that are near and dear to our heart.This is a film based on a young Dolly Parton at nine years of age growing up in the mountains of Tennessee with seven of her siblings. Little Dolly is the apparent apple of her parents' eye, even though she is full of spunk. The acting by all the main characters was more than believable with an admirable performance by a young actress named Alyvia Alyn Lind who plays young Dolly. The young Ms. Lind has already built herself a considerable resume with appearances in 16 various films and/or TV series. With this much work already under her belt I assume she must be home schooled and focused more on her acting career at the moment rather than on a typical bricks and mortar education and a typical childhood.Excellent performances were also provided by Dolly's movie father Mr. Robert Lee Parton played by the seasoned actor Ricky Schroeder who coincidentally also got his first break at the age of 9 years starring opposite the veteran actor Jon Voight in a boxing film titled The Champ. Dolly's movie mother Avie Lee Parton was played superbly by the professional singer Jennifer Nettles, who is a member of the well-established Country band, Sugarland. Dolly's movie grandfather is the county's minister Reverend Jake Owens and played effectively by Gerald McRaney. Dolly Parton herself narrates her own story as a 9 year old girl growing up in the Tennessee hills with her seven siblings, who lived off of the land her daddy sowed, surrounded by her parents' strong love even when tragedy hits the family hard. For those naysayers who prefer to say that this film was a bit hokey please remember this is a 90 minute film attempting to cover several months in young Dolly's life. The coat of many colors is not the focal point but only explains how Dolly wrote such a beautiful and successful song. As such what I am able to draw from this mini-biography film is that strong family based Christian characteristic that helped Dolly develop in to the beautiful and caring country and western singer that she has presented on stage, in public and private for decades, as well as her Christian faith that she has always said provides her with her inner strength.There is good acting throughout the film, it is a good storied family film with some insight in to a young (9 years of age) Dolly Parton's family roots. Sure there are Academy Award dramas out there that are more memorable but Mrs. Sullivan and I were quite pleased with this family based biography film and as such I give it an 8 out of 10 rating.

This movie shows the life of Dolly Parton in the beautiful Smoky Mountains. I lived in East Tennessee for seven years and love the people and the beauty of the area. This movie gives a peek at life in East Tennessee. Clean movie. Use of the word "Hell". Cute little girl to play Dolly. Movie gets me excited to go back and visit the area again. When movie comes to video, it will be apart of our family's collection. Nice to see clean movie on prime time viewing. Hopefully this will encourage the alphabet stations to put more of these types of movies instead of crude humored shows. Cool to see Dolly become a balladeer during the movie and see her at Dollywood.

I am not a big country music fan and I've never been a particular fan of Dolly Parton although I have always enjoyed seeing her in interviews. I never knew her story and this TV movie covers it.Overall a very nice movie although I wish I could have seen it without the breaks for commercials. Some will be turned off for its religious theme but that is part of her story and it is presented well. Set in the 1950s when Dolly was a young girl, perhaps 10.The title is also the title of a song she wrote, which was released in 1971. It is both a reference to the biblical Joseph and his coat of many colors, plus the coat that Dolly's mom sewed for her. A patchwork coat it had many bright colors. Alyvia Alyn Lind, daughter of actors, is very appropriate as the young Dolly Parton. But to me the real star is non-actress Jennifer Nettles, country singer, as the mom, Avie Lee Parton. They had many children and after losing a son just after birth she went into a deep funk. When she broke out of it she started singing again and Nettles has a beautiful voice. And she shows us that as a first- timer she is a natural actress.Old reliable Rick Schroder is the dad, Robert Lee Parton, always standing outside church on Sundays, reluctant to actually go it. And old reliable Gerald McRaney is the grandpa and also the local preacher Rev. Jake Owens.The movie only covers a short time in Parton's life, part of a year, but it shows where she came from and how she received her influences.