I Saw the Light Poster

I Saw the Light (2015)

Biography | Music 
Rayting:   5.7/10 6.4K votes
Country: USA
Language: English
Release date: 1 April 2016

The story of the country western singer Hank Williams, who in his brief life created one of the greatest bodies of work in American music. The film chronicles his rise to fame and its tragic effect on his health and personal life.

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User Reviews

eddie_baggins 6 December 2016

Frustrating. That is how I would describe this unfocused and sadly unengaging biopic of legendary country singer Hank Williams, the man responsible for such memorable ditties as What You Got Cooking and Cold Cold Heart.

At one time or another spoken about as being a likely contender at the Academy Awards, Marc Abraham's film that features an outstanding and deservedly acknowledged performance from British superstar Tom Hiddleston, I Saw the Light became a true non-event upon release around the world, making a paltry $1.6 million at the worldwide box office and a fate even worse here in Australia where it has been dumped straight onto home release without even the slightest bit of fanfare around, which is such a shame considering the material and tools at Abraham's disposal.

William's story from that centres on an incredible rise to fame from a relatively sad upbringing is completely mishandled by Abraham with the film rarely, if ever, offering up much lead in or background to Williams bar an impressive meltdown at a music festival where Williams addresses the crowd under extreme duress. It's nigh on infuriating that we're never really allowed inside this talented performers mindset or history and makes the film feel as though it's at arm's length away at all times.

This feeling of disconnect can be laid almost entirely to blame on Abraham as Hiddleston who has still perhaps been at his best as Loki in The Avengers before this film rather than the over praised Only Lovers Left Alive, The Deep Blue Sea and the overrated BBC series The Night Manager makes this role his own from the word go.

As the camera slowly lingers in towards Hiddleston performing an impressive instrument free rendition (Hiddleston performs all his own songs here as well as playing the guitar) of hit William's song Cold Cold Heart to an intently concentrating audience, you forget that you're watching the British actor and feel as though you're instead witnessing the complete re-embodying of Williams. It's a turn that deserves a much better movie even if he gets solid support from Elizabeth Olsen as William's long suffering love Audrey.

I Saw the Light is a real missed opportunity to not only tell the story of Williams but give Hiddleston the film his performance deserved and while the die-hard fans of Williams may find this film better than us Williams outsiders, it would be very hard to find many other reasons to watch this soulless film other than to see Hiddleston deliver the acting turn of his career so far.

2 electric garage door buttons out of 5

t-w-anderson 26 May 2019

Fmovies: Keep your eyes open at all times and cross your legs. This is a very visually pleasing film. For more, I recommend Oldboy.

peemmza 7 April 2016

I've got to hand it to director Mark Abraham. All the things he got right in "I Saw The Light" were far more impactful than things he missed. After reading other reviews I thought I was going to come away from the movie unsatisfied, but instead it was the opposite.

I really like that this movie was a more subdued and intimate look at Hank Williams. It's not fast paced or a high frequency drama. It's an intimate peak into the personal side of Hank during the last 5-6 years of his life with singing performances speckled throughout. The acting performances are fantastic especially Tom Hiddleston who transforms himself into Hank beautifully and does a fine job singing Hank's songs.

Many of the complaints of the film were from people who wanted to see the historical Hank Williams film. The whole boilerplate biopic from childhood to all the milestones of his rise to stardom and the impact he had on American music. People wanted to know why Hank was the way he was and did the things he did. Yet conflicted, talented artists tend to always defy being wrapped up into nice, little 120 minute boxes with definitive explanations supplied.

With that in mind Abraham did the next best thing and what was always his intention, created and showed a personal experience of Hank. To have the audience feel what it was like to be in his life. In that endeavor the director got it right many times over. By casting Hiddleston to play such a complex and conflicted person, it humanizes Hank and makes him relatable. Tom's performance allows people to have an endearing empathy and compassion for Hank and see this troubled cultural hero from a personal perspective.

Although there's a lot the director left out or only made reference to, the main problem with the film is in the weaving of all the many relationships and chapters of Hank's tumultuous life into a cohesive harmony. Still "I Saw The Light" delivers an insightful and engaging experience of the great country star that we have never seen before and with a masterly produced soundtrack that sets the tone and carries you through this little beauty of a film.

cosmo_tiger 5 July 2016

I Saw the Light fmovies. "A man sings a sad song he knows is sad." Hank Williams (Hiddleston) is a country music legend. He has sung and written some of the best song in this and any genre. He also had some demons that destroyed him. Pain and hurt that he felt and caused led to his classic body of work, and ultimately his untimely death. This is a very hard movie to review. After the huge success of Ray and Walk The Line it is a tall order to live up to those two. I wondered why this didn't get a big release, especially considering the Avengers connection. After watching this I can see why. The acting is great. Hiddleston embodies Hank and even does his own singing. Olsen does a spot on job as Audrey and portraying the struggles she went through. The music and performances are a treat to watch. All that said, the movie itself came off as flat and a little uninspired. It was missing something that the other two had and it ultimately ended up hurting the movie and making this a huge disappointment, for me at least. Overall, great acting could not overcome the bad writing. Worth seeing, but temper your expectations. I sadly give this a B-.

vthomas-02523 17 February 2016

I saw the movie last fall, just a few weeks prior to the original release date. I was happy with the choice of Tom Hiddleston as Hank Williams. He had the physical look to carry it off and I know he has the talent. I just wish I could say the same with the script.

This story seems to focus on his first marriage and that relationship. Out of everything Hank Williams did, this is what they focus on? Other than the music, they barely touched on everything that made him such a colorful character. It didn't help that there was little chemistry between two lead characters. Lifetime movies have better stories and chemistry.

Tom Hiddleston did a nice job with his singing but that isn't worth watching this movie. Hopefully, this will get buried and someone with more knowledge of Hank Williams can bring more deserving movie to the screen.

lindabroday 6 April 2016

I'm not a movie critic, just an ordinary person who loves sitting in a dark theater and letting the magic take over. I Saw The Light was pure magic. Tom Huddleston, whom I'd never heard of before, was perfect for the role of Hank Williams. He took me back in time and let me see the pain and suffering the icon faced daily. Hank's was a tortured soul and maybe that contributed to his greatness. Huddleston captured that and pulled back the curtain, letting us see inside the man. I think Huddleston did an excellent job with not only the songs (his voice was flawless) but with the exact mannerisms and nuances of Hank Williams. I thank him for doing such an awesome job and for a short time whisked me back so I could once again enjoy the icon's music. It was difficult to keep my feet still because I wanted to get up and dance. This was a great movie and I hope to see Tom Huddleston in other roles.

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