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Coyote Ugly
Coyote Ugly ** (PG-13)
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Reviewed By George O. Singleton
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Violet: Piper Perabo
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Kevin: Adam Garcia
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Zoe: Tyra Banks
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Dad: John Goodman
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Director: David McNally
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30 Second Bottom Line: An attractive woman in her 20's heads to the big city to become a successful songwriter. When her expectation of instant success is not realized and all her cash is gone, she takes a job working as a bartender/dancer in a gentlemen's club. She then learns the ways of the world.
Story Line: Violet (Piper Perabo) reluctantly leaves her Dad (John Goodman) in her small New Jersey hometown and heads for New York City to sell her songs. As expected, she gets plenty of smiles but no contracts. Violet is living in a dumpy apartment but is in good spirits until she runs out of money. While in a 24-hour diner early one morning, she checks to see if she has enough money for a cup of coffee. She overhears a group of women having a good time and talking about how much money they made that evening working at the Coyote Ugly bar. Violet is successful in getting an audition to work at least one night.
She lands the job and begins to learn the ropes. Songwriters have a better chance of selling their songs if they can sing them; but the villain in the film is Violet's stage fright. One night in the bar she resorts to karaoke to break up a brawl, and from this her confidence grows to take control of her career.
Tell Me More About It: The song I Will Survive was used successfully in The Replacements (Keanu Reeves); that is not the case here. The difference is the innate talent that is not evident in Coyote Ugly. Keanu knew how to throw a football and the dancers could dance in The Center Stage. A story about being able to survive in an intensely competitive show business environment requires hard work, the ability to take a punch (literally and figuratively) and talent. While this is a good-looking film with the sets and the attractive women, it just never gave me the edge that she might not make it. The talent I saw was mediocre, unless much of what you see on MTV is considered great music. I'll give a "truth in lending statement" and admit I don't like hip-hop and almost never watch MTV.
The women working the bar like Zoe (Tyra Banks) and others are purely window dressing to set the stage for Violet. The character development borders on comical. As we travel through a T&A movie that doesn't show much of either, other than in your mind, it becomes clear that the film is aimed at teenagers rather than adults. It's a "ruff fluff" coming of age movie that has some heart and almost no soul.
Supporting Violet is her love interest Kevin (Adam Garcia) and John Goodman as her father. Perabo projects a glowing charm that she first showed us in The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (in my top 10 films for the year). She and Goodman keep the movie from totally lacking interest. They have fun being father and daughter and the audience is able to share that joy.
Coyote Ugly is one of those mediocre movies that could have risen to above average with a strong ending. Its predictability is not why it isn't very good, but we had every right to expect her success to come from a deserving talent. The contest she was in had more of a sophomoric high school ring than one of aspiring professionals. She would not have been booed off the stage, but she would not have come in first either.
The ending is about getting across the goal line and scoring a touchdown. Coyote Ugly only got to midfield when it needed to be within the 5-yard line. It falls into the category of a movie that wanted to be more than OK but just couldn't do it.
PG-13 (sex)
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George O. Singleton © 2000
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Mini Filmography
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Adam Garcia: Wilde
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John Goodman: Bringing out the Dead
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David McNally: Debut
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