I Saw the Light

"A man sings a sad song he knows is sad." Hank Williams (Hiddleston) is a country music legend. He has sung and written some of the best song in this and any genre. He also had some demons that destroyed him. Pain and hurt that he felt and caused led to his classic body of work, and ultimately his untimely death. This is a very hard movie to review. After the huge success of Ray and Walk The Line it is a tall order to live up to those two. I wondered why this didn't get a big release, especially considering the Avengers connection. After watching this I can see why. The acting is great. Hiddleston embodies Hank and even does his own singing. Olsen does a spot on job as Audrey and portraying the struggles she went through. The music and performances are a treat to watch. All that said, the movie itself came off as flat and a little uninspired. It was missing something that the other two had and it ultimately ended up hurting the movie and making this a huge disappointment, for me at least. Overall, great acting could not overcome the bad writing. Worth seeing, but temper your expectations. I sadly give this a B-.

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'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.

"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'm only 25 years old, but I have almost all of Hank's music and have read multiple books in high school about him (including "Hank Williams: The Biography" by Colin Escott). So needless to say, I had high hopes for this movie.

I feel like my high hopes were mostly met. I thought the movie did a very good job of laying out Hank's life and showing his stardom as well as struggles. I didn't like as much that it was rated R vs a PG-13 for "Walk the Line", but then again, anyone who has studied Hank knows that his life was rough and he wasn't candy-coated by any means.

I think Tom Hiddleston does a very good job as Hank, though maybe not QUITE as spot on as I would've liked. But when a big movie comes out about probably my biggest musical artist of all-time, I won't complain. From what I've read, Mr. Hiddleston was basically trained to be as spot-on as possible, and when I saw the movie, he had me believing it was Hank. Elizabeth Olsen did a very good job as Audrey as well.

Overall, I quite enjoyed the movie and am anticipating any special edition releases when it comes out on DVD in a few months. Of course, there were moments of sadness especially toward the end, but there were also moments of happiness and (at least for me) a few chuckles. Although I wouldn't rank this as high as "Walk the Line" in my list of biopics, it was definitely worth the price of admission to me and I would totally see it again if given the opportunity.