Watch I Saw the Light For Free

I love this movie so much

Absolutely Fantastic

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

When I see a film like "I Saw The Light", it reminds me of how fine the line is between being "great" and being "just okay". This film has great acting, wonderful song numbers, and tells a dramatic story…all things that it's "spiritual" successor "Walk The Line" does. However, there is one key difference (that makes all the difference): That earlier Johnny Cash flick had a lot of heart. This Hank Williams biopic? Not so much.For a basic plot summary, "I Saw The Light" tells the story of Hank Williams (Tom Hiddleston), the mega-popular but also severely troubled country music superstar. The film begins with his rushed, low-key marriage to Audrey (Elizabeth Olsen), then chronicles his rise to stardom in line with the promiscuity and alcoholism that defined his personal life.The problem that holds back "I Saw The Light" is simple to identify, yet tough to disseminate: it lacks that "spark", or heart, that previous biopics on other topics have provided. I think the primary culprit in this case is that it doesn't include much of a personal narrative for any of the featured characters. It's about as "straight" of a biopic as one will ever see, not providing any "editorializing" (for lack of a better word) on Hank or his life. Simply put, there is no backstory given, so how can we ever really feel for the events on screen without that context?Fortunately, the acting in this film is terrific…every bit as good as "Walk The Line", to be completely honest. Hiddleston captures the awkward skinny-ness of Hank's physical presence, while Olsen often steals the show as Audrey. Usually, acting like this can propel a film to great heights, but (as previously mentioned) there just isn't enough meaty material to create the kind of dramatic tension needed to make that happen.The musical numbers are a treat, as Hiddleston does a remarkable job of mimicking Hank's unique sound. I like it when films like this let the actor cover the songs…so long as the performance isn't totally butchered. Hiddleston shines in that regard.Overall, though, the lack of drama/energy in "I Saw The Light" ultimately doom it to its 3-star rating. It's a bit sad, as all the other components are firmly in place, but it just lacks that dramatic narrative that needs to drive any biopic. A film like this can't just "portray real life" (as where is the spectacle in that?). It has to tell its own story, and that is where "I Saw The Light" fell short.

Tom Hiddleston looks like Hank - but he can't sing like him at all. He totally lacks the country twang. I am not country music expert but I could tell from the first song he just didn't have it. Don't know why they didn't dub him. What did they expect when they cast an English actor to play and sing Hank. Elizabeth Olson is kind of out of place too. Looks too non Southern.The story isn't good. There are these conversations about things instead of showing things happening. Lots of stuff takes place in shadows and dimly lit rooms. The scenes are boring.No wonder it flopped. A real yawn.

I really wanted to like this movie... I wanted it to be a huge breakout solo hit for Tom Hiddleston, but it just wasn't that great. The writing seemed a bit cheesy and it took a while to get moving and that didn't happen until pretty far in, about the time his back problem was finally explained. From there on out, his drinking becomes obvious, but there is still too much left unmentioned about his marriage and what lead him to such destructive behavior. Hank Williams has been gone for a long time... I think we needed more of a reminder about who he was and what he went through. The music is great... there is talent in the film and you can tell that Tom Hiddleston put a lot of work into it, but it just doesn't come together. I guess in the end there was just too much left unexplained.

I loved this movie and was very moved by Tom Hiddleston's performance which I thought was brilliant. I have nothing against Shreveport, but I always prefer movies filmed in their actual locations. So I would have liked it better if the movie had been filmed in Alabama and Tennessee - but I can let that go. I thought the female roles were well done. My only real disappointment with this film is the truncated ending. We have Hank Williams leaving in his blue Cadillac convertible from Montgomery and then we skip to Canton, Ohio and his death announcement. I wish we could have seen something of those two days. I've always been suspicious of the cause of death - heart failure is very unusual for a 29-year-old. Still, this is a very see-able film and I think the IMDb rating of 5.7 is too low for such a good film. Dan Finley