You really can’t blame Tom Hiddleston, Elizabeth Olson or any of the cast for the unremitting dullness of the biopic I Saw the Light. The life of Hank Williams, Sr. was so filled with pathos and singular achievement that it should inspire a captivating movie. After all, Hank’s songwriting genius (36 hits and six #1 songs in only six years) catapulted him from the obscurity of backwater Alabama to national celebrity. Being a womanizing alcoholic with chronic back pain made him a less than ideal husband, resulting in martial carnage. And his meteoric career ended when he died in the back seat of his Cadillac at age twenty-nine. Now THAT’S a compelling life story.
Unfortunately, neither the singularity of Hank’s talent nor the urgency of his self-destructiveness comes through in the series of vignetted in I Saw the Light. Marc Abraham is an able producer (The Commitments, The Hurricane, Children of Men) – writer-director not so much. Halfway through, I was contemplating where to dine afterwards.
As Hank, Hiddleston impersonates Hank’s singing voice well and brings a special gleam to the performances. But he can’t enliven this plodding movie.