Has producer Jerry Bruckheimer gone soft in his old age, or have I? "Coyote Ugly" is the first film I've seen this year that qualifies as a guilty pleasure for me. By no means is "Coyote Ugly" anything original, but unlike Bruckheimer's other summer release, the awful "Gone In 60 Seconds," this picture has a heart, a soul - and a decent story!
Piper Perabo stars as Violet Sanford, a New Jersey girl who heads to the nearest available big city that happens to be on an island to pursue her dream of being a songwriter. Violet has songwriting in her blood, as her late mother had also aspired to be a singer and performer. Violet had been told that her mother failed due to stage fright. Undaunted, Violet has recorded a demo tape and sent copies to every talent agency in the big city.
While she waits for an answer, she meets Kevin (Adam Garcia), a short-order cook who takes a liking to Violet and her music. He encourages her to pursue her dreams. Since dreams don't pay the rent, Violet must find a job. A good-hearted waiter gives Violet a tip that the local bar, Coyote Ugly, is looking for new help. Violet goes there, and the owner, Lil (Maria Bello), decides to give her an audition. In her attempt to get into the rowdy spirit of the bar, she hoses the friendly neighborhood fire marshal, and gets the bar fined. If Violet can't find a way to pay the fine from her pocket, she'll fail her audition. Thanks to her very generous new friend Kevin, she passes, and Lil dubs her new bartender Jersey.
Jersey, like her mother, proves to have stage fright. Since Coyote Ugly duties include dancing on a flaming bar, there is reasonable cause for trepidation. Fortunately, Jersey finds her niche when someone extinguishes the flames and plays Blondie's "One Way Or Another" on the jukebox. Violet sings along with Debbie Harry, and the crowd loves it.
Of course, Violet would love to be singing her own songs, and begs Lil to let her leave early one night to go to an audition at another club. It's another typical good night at Coyote Ugly, so Lil denies the request.
That upsets Kevin, who had called in a favor to get Violet a performance. Then, her father, Bill (John Goodman), visits Violet at work and catches her in the middle of an act that doesn't require her vocal expertise. She then has to find ways to make amends with the two main men in her life, especially after Bill is seriously injured on his way to work at the tollbooths of the New Jersey Turnpike.
"Coyote Ugly" combines three hits of the eighties - "Flashdance," "Footloose," and "Cocktail" - with the testosterone-pumping style that has made Jerry Bruckheimer a household word. Frankly, the parts that are Bruckheimer's stock-in-trade are boring. The scenes inside Coyote Ugly (which is a real New York City bar) do little to support the rest of the story. They are there only for a hormonal rush (And if I understand my science correctly, alcohol does stimulate male hormonal production in both men and women). It's when Violet is with Kevin and her father that "Coyote Ugly" works. Given that these relationships work, the movie may as well have been a 101-minute effort with a different title sponsored by
Coyote Ugly.
Piper Perabo has, lately, been compared to Julia Roberts for her sense of screen presence. In both "Coyote Ugly" and "The Adventures Of Rocky And Bullwinkle" (where she and Goodman also shared screen time), Perabo has been impressive. America won't be kicking Roberts to the curb anytime soon, but Perabo does light up the screen with a good combination of smarts and naivete. Certainly, I will be looking for Perabo's name in future films. Garcia and Goodman provide nice support, providing both guidance and tough love in their roles. Country singer LeAnn Rimes appears briefly as (you guessed it) LeAnn Rimes, and Tyra Banks is also noteworthy in her role as Zoe, the dancing bartender who leaves Coyote Ugly, thus paving the way for Violet to get a job. Director David McNally keeps a good pace throughout this film.
A funny thing must have happened to Jerry Bruckheimer on the way to wrapping the production of "Coyote Ugly." He found something of interest in among all the drinking, dancing, and mayhem of the film, and he had the courage to keep it in the final cut. I know "Coyote Ugly" won't win the 2000 Oscar as best picture, but it is a film full of sweetness and fun. "Coyote Ugly" is an unexpected joy in a summer full of action epics and mindless comedies. It's the epitome of summer entertainment.
A young woman moves to New York to try and make it as a songwriter. On the journey she has to dance in bars and on the bar. Her aspirations are sideli...More at HotMovieSale.com
Bar dancing and fire-breathing are all in a day s work atcoyote ugly, new york city s rowdiest bar. Perabo stars as thesuburbanite who makes good in t...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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