I Saw the Light

"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" or "Your Cheatin' Heart" might have been better titles for the Hank Williams biopic, "I Saw the Light." The story written and directed by Marc Abraham has too much emphasis on his lonely, cheating persona that led to divorce and broken hearts along the arc of this film's 1944 to 1953, when he died of too much drugs and alcohol. After seeing Amy, about Amy Winehouse, I'm waiting currently for a softer biography, say of Perry Como.

Anyway, Tom Hiddleston's turn as Williams is hypnotically spot on from tics and Southern drawl to hats and all the charm in between. Hiddleston is a good singer who seems to have captured Williams in a masterful interpretation of a manic depressive genius. That's my major concern with the story: I want more of the music, its creation and its challenges, and much less of the personal and domestic warfare, led by his wife, Audrey (Elizabeth Olsen).

Olsen's Southern accent is impressively accurate without being too twangy although her singing is not up to Huddleston's level of smoothness. Audrey was apparently a strong woman who interjected herself into the studio as well as the home. Although she isn't as memorable as June Carter Cash, she is a force in Williams' life. At a point I was sympathetic to her and her children, who were small players in Williams' life.

I guess if you really want to know Hank Williams, listen to his songs. If you want to see what Loki can do outside of science fiction, see him play Hank Williams in I Saw the Light.

I've grown up in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Home to Helen Keller and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, our little town sits shoulder to shoulder to both Sheffield, home of Muscle Shoals Sound Studios and Muscle Shoals, home of FAME Recording Studios. We are not a community that is well known outside the music industry but we have seen our share of big names making comfortably quiet stops in our area to work on some of their releases. Needless to say, our area has an affinity for music and when I recently came across this film, I had to check out this flick about one of Alabama's boys.

Hank Williams truly played one of the most significant roles in country music. While his life was brief, the impact he made speaks volumes to his gift of musical creativity and delivery. The scope of what he could have achieved had his life not ended is something to think about.

While this film is wonderfully acted and filmed, I must admit that I was a bit disappointed. I thought that for a biographical movie about the demise of a musical icon this film was shallow. It seemed to only scratch the surface of Hank Williams life, music, relationships and addictions. If I had to choose what it was most focused on I would say it was mostly about his first marriage. It was still, as I said, very shallow and didn't really dig into their struggles and they didn't have many scenes together in the film.

I was disappointed that his music wasn't showcased more. There were some honky tonk scenes, some Grand Ole Opry scenes and a couple acapella moments but it was just missing something and didn't seem to do him much justice. It would've also been nice to have seen some about his childhood and how he came to realize his musical talent.

Don't get me wrong, I liked this film. Hiddleston did a great job filling this role and I'm not sure that you'd find many fans that would disagree with that. I guess I was just hoping for more than I got. It was nonetheless a decent film and worth the watch.

Tom looks and sounds remarkably like Hank Williams here. If you listen to 'Hey good lookin'' performed by Tom he pronounces 'new' with yod retention ('nyoo') but that's not a mistake due to him being English as if you listen to the Hank Williams recording he does the same! The only problem is the absence of a back story to the central characters, even Hank himself, means you don't particularly care about them or root for them, which is a shame.

It's a shame that some of this film's structural flaws will keep many from seeing one of the best on screen performances I've seen in years. Hiddleston's Hank Williams is a masterful creation: haunting, driven and soulful with the added bonus of Hiddleston doing his own singing and playing (no lip-syncing) including Hank's famous yodel.

While the film would have benefited with less marital squabbling and more music, it nonetheless takes one on an gripping journey of an American music icon's tragic life and short but amazing career.

Elizabeth Olson as Audrey, William's headstrong wife, does a fine job but I could have done with less of their relationship story and more about Hank's musical process. Cherry Jones is also excellent as Hank's bossy mom.

The stellar singing in the opening segment is worth the price of admission.

'I SAW THE LIGHT': Three Stars (Out of Five)

A biopic based on the life, and death, of country and blues music legend Hank Williams. The movie stars British actor Tom Hiddleston, as Williams, and it costars Elizabeth Olsen, Cherry Jones and Bradley Whitford. It was written and directed by Marc Abraham, and it's based on the book 'Hank Williams: The Biography' (by Colin Escott, George Merritt and William MacEwen). The film underperformed at the indie Box Office, and it's gotten mostly negative reviews from critics and fans alike. I think it's about average for a biography, which means it's pretty boring stuff (despite it's involving subject matter).

The movie begins when Hank Williams (Hiddleston) was already a well known country and blues singer, and songwriter. He was also already unhappily married to Audrey Sheppard Williams (Olsen), who was also his duet partner and manager. He also already had a serious alcohol and drug problem as well. The movie chronicles his rise to fame, and further descent into health and relationship troubles, up until his very young death at the age of 29.

Hiddleston, despite not being an American actor (or especially from the South), gives an awesome performance in the film (he also did all of his own singing in it)! His performance is actually the highlight of the movie, but the character (and the music legend that he plays) should be a lot more fascinating. The movie recounts the details of his short life, and stardom, but it doesn't actually breath any real life into them; it's just not very involving at all (like it should be). Most biopics have this too annoying flaw though. The film is OK, especially for a Hank Williams fan, but then again, Hank Williams fans are the ones who should be the most eager for more.

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