Writer: Marc Abraham (Screenplay) Colin Escott, George Merritt, William MacEwen (Book)
Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Elizabeth Olsen, Bradley Whitford, Cherry Jones, Maddie Hasson, Wrenn Schmidt, David Krumholtz
Plot: The story of the country-western singer Hank Williams, who in his brief life created one of the greatest bodies of work in American music. The film chronicles his rise to fame and its tragic effect on his health and personal life.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Lacks That Interest Factor
Story: I Saw the Light starts as we see Hank Williams (Hiddleston) slowly making his name in the music industry in the mid 40’s, his new marriage to Audrey (Olsen) does get questioned because she doesn’t have the singing voice he does and this shows early on when he must decide whether to supporting her singing or make his own career.
We follow how Hank continued to rise in fame but struggled with his own alcohol problems, his rocky marriage and his womanising, which led to his early death.
Thoughts on I Saw the Light
Characters/Performance – Hank is the famous country singer who rose to fame in the late 40s to become an icon, he has his own personal demons of drinking, womanising and rocky marriage. Audrey is the wife of Hank, she does want to be part of the singing but she doesn’t have the talent Hank has with brings a strain to their marriage.
Performance wise, well where do we start? Hiddleston is fine in this role as is Olsen and do the best with what they can with the story.
Story – Now I like watching bio-pics even if I don’t know who the film is centred around. I don’t know who Hank Williams is or what his most famous song was which I am not using as an excuse for not enjoying this film. I found the story way too long with very little happening and no focus on the music Hank has been making.
Biography/Music – The story telling takes away from where the bio-pic side of the film should be focusing on where the music is all fine without being anything special.
Settings – The settings are all fine for the time period in question which is all we need from the story of late 40s early 50s.
Final Thoughts – This is a very weak bio-pic that doesn’t give us enough to like about the musician Hank Williams to look back and go, he was an interesting guy. The storytelling side of the film comes off confusing and doesn’t give us enough time on the music side of the film.
Overall: Weak bio-pic that lacks everything that is needed.
Rating