Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors

At the start of the movie, young Dolly walks into church with her guitar ... and enough makeup on her face to be accused of looking like a harlot. The start of a lifelong tradition.

Alyvia Alyn Lind does a great job as this somewhat naughty and rebellious girl who is basically good and has a strong faith. But she's not the best actor in the movie. More on that in a minute. Lind makes us like her and convinces us she will be someone famous, although we already knew she would be. She goes through so many trials, including bullying and the loss of a sibling she was going to take care of and love. But while her faith is challenged, she shows us the true meaning of her faith. Plus she can sing.

Regardless of what I think of Jennifer Nettles' music, as an actress I predict she will get an Emmy nomination. She is so kind and loving, though she must also be so depressed she thinks life can't continue. And then she picks herself up and moves on with life, even with all the trails and tribulations. She is not the serious, strict parent I was expecting, and yet she holds that family together. And while she doesn't have all her facts right, Avie Lee is a strong believer and like Dolly, delivers a meaningful message of faith. Oh, and she can sing too. And it's the good kind of country music too.

Rick Schroder isn't quite the father I would have expected. He has his moments and does a good job overall, but he seems kind of weak in the presence of Dolly's stern but loving father. He somehow seems secondary to his wife in holding the family together. Still, Robert Lee is challenged by adversity and can't believe in the same way his family wants him to.

Gerald McRaney does his usual fine job as the stern but loving preacher father who has never quite accepted Robert Lee. But he's trying.

Mary Lane Haskell gives us a capable and caring teacher.

There are plenty of other good performances from the kids. The bullies may not be bad people but may just need love.

Is it squeaky clean? Of course not, but what would you expect from this tough family? There are several curse words but this is probably still fine for the kids. The sex-related talk will probably go over kids heads but they might ask questions. Still, this is quite family-friendly.

It's a wonderful effort overall.

I watched this movie on a whim, without any foreknowledge of it, and was pleasantly surprised.

Too often, producers search for universal appeal by eschewing universal truths. This film is a very rare exception. Not only does it target the Christian viewer, but it does so with a fairly good narrative, which centers on family, love, and the power of redemption.

The acting is good, and the beautiful Appalachian scenery and talented singing are both notable.

There are references to the Bible, as well as one to Lucy Maud Montgomery (the writer of "Anne of Green Gables"). I can't tell you how refreshing it is to see open appeals to faith on TV.

By contrast, I recently saw an animated Christmas special which was blatantly ashamed of Christmas, but somehow still misappropriated the word in its title. "Coat" is not properly a Christmas special, as it does not specifically revolve around that day, but, if anything, this helps prevent it from falling into clichés.

Worthy is His name, and He works out all things for good, even in the difficult times of life. Sometimes we are so richly blessed, little Dolly with a big family, that we do not realize the blessing until He takes away part of it.

We do not understand why a child has to die so early, but forget that all those little children do not have to go through this hard school of life and work out their salvation with fear and trembling. They just go over into Eternity, because they do not know yet the difference between good and evil (Deu 1:39) and have not yet reached the Age of Accountability.

Remarkable actors (especially Dolly and her mother), beautiful settings, thrown back in time into a typical life of hard work and little diplomacy in words. And a story of a stubborn father, as so many out there, who refused to follow our faith, even though modeled at perfection by his wife. Her perseverance will be decisive.

* The only negative point of the movie is the scene where little Dolly argues with THEOS. This dialogue is overly dramatic and the language is nearly blasphemous. The script writers should not have chosen such language. We can utter our doubts and frustrations, but this one went way too far.

Watching this movie gave me great insight on how Dolly Parton grew up. The cast was great and helped tell her story perfectly in my opinion, congratulations to you all. It shows her sweet, soft but yet tough side which I am sure is what has carried her until today. I learned things I did not know about her family and lessons I will carry with me to mine. It very much so is a MUST SEE! I know she can put tears in my eyes and they delivered. Thanks for bringing this life and I look forward to a miniseries coming, I know there is a lot more that can be said and music along the way to enjoy!

Mark Adams Winston-Salem, NC 27103 12/29/2015

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.