I Saw The Light: The Hank Williams Story (2015) PG-13

Initial release: 11 September 2015

Director: Marc Abraham

Budget: $13 million US

Box office: $1.8 million US

Screenplay: Marc Abraham

Story by: Colin Escott

Mom and I have been ill since Sunday, so except for a few spurts of productiveness, I had to put all work aside to just focus on healing.  Except for the news and that wonderful French Open Men's Singles Final, we missed out on watching our favourite TV programs because we were too weak to watch anything.  I was able to update my social media sites, but...anyways, enough of these useless info...

I chanced upon this movie because dad was watching this.  He just came from breakfast with friends and he was resting a bit.  He was quite impressed with "Loki" and we both wondered if this was shown in the Philippines.  "Where were we when this was shown?"

We were moved as the story progressed, but found a lot of things off and odd.  There were many great and wonderful things that Mr. Hank Williams contributed to society, but they did not show them.  

The movie's title is I SAW THE LIGHT(one of the hit songs he composed) so we were kind of hoping Mr. Williams "saw the light" before his death at 29.  He probably did, but it wasn't shown too.

The saving grace of the movie is Mr. Hiddleston,  like what Mr. Travers and Mr. O'Sullivan observed:

Bitch all you want about a British actor, Tom Hiddleston — Loki  from The Avengers, for fuck's sake — taking on the role of Alabama-born Hank Williams, the singer-songwriter who influenced generations of country music performers who came after. Sure, Hiddleston is 35 and playing a music icon who died, in 1953 at the age of 29, from heart failure induced by alcohol and prescription drugs (he had back problems since childhood). But haters should snap out of it. Hiddleston is a virtuoso and he gives the role his considerable all, including singing such Hank hits as "You're Cheatin' Heart," "Lovesick Blues" and the title song in a voice that persuasively suggests the real thing. It helps that he's singling live with a backup band. Hiddleston is not what's wrong with this movie. But damn near everything else is.-Peter Travers of Rolling Stone

Oh, there’s a soullessness to the movie, all right, but Hiddleston is not its source. The actor, who drops his clipped English diction here for a better-than-passable Alabama drawl, makes for a believable Williams, hunching forward at the microphone as Williams did — a result of chronic back pain from spina bifida — and imitating, if not replicating, the singer’s signature nasally vocal hiccups. Offstage, Hiddleston is even better at evoking Williams’s sly charm, a blend of lingering hurt and earnestness.

It’s the movie that doesn’t tell the truth.-Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post

I agree with them 100%.  

That's all I can say.

Thank you very much for your valuable time.


CAST FROM WIKIPEDIA:

Tom Hiddleston as Hank Williams
Elizabeth Olsen as Audrey Sheppard Williams, Hank's wife, manager, and duet partner
Cherry Jones as Lillie Skipper Williams, Hank's mother
Bradley Whitford as Fred Rose, co-owner of Acuff-Rose song publishing in Nashville, who produced Hank's records and co-wrote several songs with Hank
Maddie Hasson as Billie Jean, a 19-year-old pursued by Hank after his divorce from Audrey and eventually becomes his second wife and widow.
Wrenn Schmidt as Bobbie Jett, had a short relationship with Hank after his divorce from Audrey. She gave birth to their daughter, Jett Williams
David Krumholtz as James Dolan, a New York journalist
Josh Pais as Dore Schary, a movie director, producer and former head of MGM Studios
James DuMont as WB Nolan, a music promoter and small-town mayor
Casey Bond as Jerry Rivers
Michael Rinne as Lum York, bass player in Hank's band, Drifting Cowboys
Joshua Brady as Sammy Pruett, lead guitarist in Hank's band, Drifting Cowboys
Wes Langlois as Don Helms, steel guitarist in Hank's band, Drifting Cowboys
Von Lewis as Ray Price, a Country singer and roommate of Hank Williams
Fred Parker Jr. as Faron Young
Rob Boltin as Frank Walker, President of Hank's record label, MGM Records

Your Cheatin' Heart (RELEASED POSTHUMOUSLY)---The video is a tribute to Mr. Williams (2014) performed by Ryan Cook

History vs. Hollywood 

Hank Williams: 5 things you may not know about the ‘Your Cheatin’ Heart’ singer