I Saw the Light is just as tired and old as it needs to be. Its subject, Hank Williams, was much the same way, and props to the film for using the tone of the man to guide the movie. Those who don’t like the uneven and more deflated tone will probably be less inclined to enjoy this film though. Heck, most critics have kicked it to the curb. It’s just an exhausting movie, but it’s plain and simple. There’s no crime against filmmaking or acting here. In fact, the acting in I Saw the Light is so mindbogglingly perfect for this particular film that it’s difficult to think of it getting anything lower than average. It really sweeps you up, and lets everything seep in about Hank Williams. There’s an intense emotion to grab onto as the film dives into the worry that Williams must have felt while living a life of extravagant flaming out. That’s another thing that the critics might not really enjoy about the movie that I actually found surprisingly refreshing. I Saw the Light does not have the happiness that Walk the Line provides when everything eventually ends up ok. Sure, that makes the movie anticlimactic. In fact, it doesn’t really have a climax, but it’s still engaging for a long while. Plus, the pitch perfect tone and acting really makes up for it. Tom Hiddleston is a great actor, but hasn’t really gotten a great dramatic role (unless you count Crimson Peak, but nobody saw that when they should have). But, Hiddleston is offered a role that almost bulldozes anything else he’s done previously. His interpretation of Hank Williams is startlingly clear, and his performances of the songs are very realistic. Elizabeth Olsen is also on great display here, but her whole non-existent arch is where the film takes its major misstep. I Saw the Light has got a pretty hacked up structure. The trailers sell it as Williams’s relationship with his first wife (Olsen), but that’s only a good two thirds of the movie. The next good third of the movie is about other relationships that Williams had, and while it does boast the film’s best scene, it’s a scattered and broken third act that seems to just be killing time until the movie can kill off Williams offscreen. Overall, the film is much better than it’s being given credit for, and overall probably better than the other musical biopic that I saw this week too. Move it on over to the theatre. I give I Saw the Light a 7 out of 10.
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December 2017
CategoriesAuthorHello welcome to FilmAnalyst. My name is Stephen Tronicek, and I really like movies. This is a way to get my opinions out to people. Thank you for visiting. |