MOVIE REVIEW - I Saw The Light

Country Icon bio-pics are nothing new. There have been some really great ones, and Walk The Line comes to mind as maybe the best.

Nothing wrong with Coal Miners Daughter, Ray, or Sweet Dreams either.  All with great performances from our stars, some even Oscar worthy and Oscar winning.  This has a great performance, but is not quite on par with the aforementioned in an overall movie.  And that's a shame.  Although, this is good, it could have been way better with just a touch of tweaking.

Tom Hiddleston stars as Hank Williams Sr.,  and is terrific!  Great acting, did his own singing and really dove into the part.  Fact is, he is better than the movie.  This movie chronicles the wild life of Williams pretty well who died at 29.  But there lies the problem.  We all knew Williams was a heavy drinker, drug abuser, and overall led an exceptionally unhealthy lifestyle.  His womanizing and his problems with his young wife are the focal point here and not his amazing music. And that's the main flaw.

Hank Williams Sr., may be one of the most important songwriters ever.  He came prominence in the late 1940's and died in the early 1950's.  He was a "country" singer and songwriter, but he was so much more.  He was the absolute bridge between the Big Band Era and Rock And Roll (which hadn't happened yet.)  Williams changed country music forever and influenced performers for the next 50 years in that genre.  He also absolutely laid the ground work for Rock And Roll, as he put a swing and swagger into music in general that had not been heard before. He is honored in both Hall's Of Fame, and should be.  His songs are still recorded by people in all formats and is one of the most recorded songwriters ever.

That is really not talked about much here. This movies best scenes far and away are the ones where Williams in on stage singing. They are as good as the ones from Walk The Line. Problem is, there are not enough of them.  There is so much placed on his lifestyle and not his music, and that's a huge opportunity missed. Hiddleston is terrific, and it's a shame that they didn't turn him even more loose and let Williams really shine more.

I Saw The Light. This is good.  But for the giant that Williams was, this should have been great.  He deserved it.