I Saw The Light is the new feature film from second time director Marc Abraham, focusing on the short life and influential career of iconic American musician Hank Williams. It’s not the first time Williams’ story has found its home on the big screen, but it’s the first major take since 1964’s Your Cheatin’ Heart, starring George Hamilton in the lead role. British actor Tom Hiddleston (Thor, The Night Manager) plays the part here, alongside Elizabeth Olsen as his first wife Audrey, Bradley Whitford as his publisher Fred Rose and an extensive supporting cast.
The beats of the story should be familiar to anyone who knows the Country musician: we meet a young boy from Alabama, who, in his relatively short life, creates one of the most influential catalogues of music in American history. All this while battling severe alcoholism and other health issues that ultimately take him from us at the age of 29. Certain parts of his story have only been discovered posthumously (and since the 1964 film), such as the existence of a second daughter, but most of this story has already been told. The attempt here, it seems, was to do his story Cinematic justice, and give Williams a biopic as (relatively) well regarded as Walk The Line or Ray and as well made as Crazy Heart. Sadly, however, through a disjointed narrative which slides over major details in his life without dramatic return and some poor decisions in the editing room, this film fails to reach the heights that his story deserved.
Honestly, it’s hard to know why they made some of the thematic decisions they did. Early rejections which may have served as a major dramatic note – such as his unsuccessful Grand Ole Opry audition – are slid over in favour of throwaway lines that offer little to his character or the story. In a similar move, Audrey’s role as manager is never made clear, and she’s made a largely unlikeable character; her own demons only alluded to. And the making of the music, something which the aforementioned biopics had done well, is often passed over in favour of additional dramatic moments regarding his health. Meanwhile, in the editing room, we jump between time periods and locations often without explanation, and the moments where we cut to faux home footage or interviews and a 4:3 aspect ratio ultimately feel out of place, rather than offering themselves to the narrative.
The result is a film which doesn’t quite know what it wants to be. It’s unconvincing in its romantic tones, the tragedy is too heavily foreshadowed to make it… tragic, and it’s too convoluted in its narrative and disjointed in style to connect with its audience. But that’s not to say this is a film without merit.
Though Williams’ grandson had publicly lambasted Hiddleston’s performance in the film – in particular his singing, posting his own take on one of Hank’s songs on socials with the note “here is how you do it Tom” – for the rest of us, including Williams’ son, it’s Hiddleston who holds this film together. He delivers a phenomenal performance in the lead role, from the film’s opening notes to the artist’s closing breath. He sings the songs and plays the guitar in the film which adds some much needed realism, and the scenes where he sings live to camera – including the beautifully shot opening sequence – are wonderful moments of filmmaking. Renowned Country musician Rodney Crowell served as Hiddleston’s “coach” to achieve this performance, and it’s fair to say he’s done a great job here.
This performance, collated with some beautiful cinematography and a great soundtrack, make this a very watchable biopic, but it’s not enough to make it an acclaimed one. Ultimately the problems lay with an unnecessarily convoluted narrative, inconsistent stylistic choices and a less-than-perfect script. With a performance that good, and an enduring legacy this well regarded, it’s a film that deserved to be – and should have been – better.
Review Score: TWO AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
I Saw The Light screened as part of the Sydney Film Festival.
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