# Coyote Ugly (2000)

### reviewed by
Laura Clifford

    COYOTE UGLY
    -----------

    ROBIN:

"Coyote Ugly" is an enigma. With its bevy of babe bartenders one might be led to believe that this is a T&A "Cocktail." The pretty, principally femme cast is sure nice to look at and there is the promise of some skin. But it's a promise unfulfilled. That's because "Coyote Ugly" is, in reality, a chick flick masquerading as a guy movie. So, gentlemen, be warned.

>From the press material, "Coyote Ugly" is "a sexy, romantic comedy [that] is one girl's wild adventure in the big city." If that doesn't sound like a blurb for a girly movie, I don't know what is. I wasn't even fooled when we enter the club, Coyote Ugly, and see Zoe (super model Tyra Banks), Rachel (Bridget Moynahan) and Cammie (Izabella Miko) shake their stuff atop the bar to blaring rock music. My practiced cinematic eye noticed that, while bare mid-drifts and shoulders abound, there is no actual skin (the aforementioned T&A) to be seen.

What the film gives us is a routine, but sweet, rags-to-riches tale of a young woman from the wilds of New Jersey who heads to the Big Apple to find a career as a songsmith. But, for Violet Sanford (Piper Perabo) (and nearly everyone else in the world) the industry is an unpenetrable monolith that will only allow you to break in to the biz if you have an agent - and you can only get an agent if you already broke into the business. She is totally discouraged that she can't get her songs sung, making her quest seem a failure. Then, her apartment is broken into and what little she has is stolen. It's a tough life for the babe-in-the-woods and it looks like she'll have to head back home to the security of her father, Bill (John Goodman). First, though, she meets a handsome young man, Kevin (Adam Garcia), and, at the same time, gets a tip to check out bar named Coyote Ugly for a job.

Coyote Ugly is owned and operated under the iron hand of Lil (Maria Bello), a good-looking, tough-as-nails lady who oversees the goings on in the bar and with her popular barmaids, babes all. The girls shag drinks for thirsty patrons at an astonishing rate, line dance on the bar and, generally, have a good time making money. Violet, nicknamed "Jersey" by Lil, is reluctant, at best, while working the busy bar. She is almost fired by Lil, more than once, but the owner sees something in Violet and keeps her on. Meanwhile, Violet and Kevin get kissy face and he helps her overcome the stage fright that keeps her from becoming a star.

You can guess where this adolescent "A Star Is Born" is heading right from the start. First time scripter Gina Wendkos uses her first-hand experience in the real Coyote Ugly to get the mood and raucous commotion of the bar and the sequences there are slickly done and exciting - we do have gorgeous women in slinky outfits dancing for us, after all. The rest of the story is pretty well traveled stuff and offers nothing original. "Flash Dance," "Fame" and other music-based inspirational flicks came to mind while watching "Coyote Ugly."

Piper Perabo has a sweet, almost virginal, girl-next-door presence with her ever present smile and plucky, if a bit too tentative for someone trying to make it in the NYC music biz, demeanor. A more aggressive character would have been more appropriate, I think, but that would detract from the fairy tale feel the filmmakers are going for. Newcomer Adam Garcia, another transplanted Australian, is good looking and provides the right note to his Kevin, a really, really nice, hard working kid. Of the Coyotes, Maria Bello comes off as the most three-dimensional character in the bar, making Lil a tough-but-fair sort. John Goodman is solid as the caring Dad and isn't given enough screen time, but the actor makes the most of it. The girls in Coyote Ugly are all gorgeous. I'm not sure they can act, but who cares?

First-time helmer David McNally does a decent job moving things along, maintaining a brisk pace that keeps things from dragging. It helps that he has the support of director of photography Amir Mokri ("Slamdance"), who gives the film a good look, throughout, and lends some excitement to the lensing within the bar. Production designer Jon Hutman ("The Horse Whisperer") gives Coyote Ugly and New York a look that more idealistic an better looking than the real thing. Costume designer Marlene Stewart ("Enemy of the State") does a terrific job of giving the impression, for the guys in the audience, of scanty clothes, but actually pulls off a certain unexpected modesty.

"Coyote Ugly" is decent, chick-oriented fun that has enough eye candy for the guys to keep them from complaining too much afterwards. I give it a B-.

    LAURA:

I thought this was going to be the cinematic equivalent of a visit to Hooters, but it's really just a more PC 90's version of the 1980's "Flashdance" by way of "Cocktail" - "Flashdance" for the artiste with a dream combined with female empowerment motif and "Cocktail" for the flashy bar moves combined with profession endangers romance plot.

Violet Sanford (Piper Perabo, "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle") takes care of her dad (John Goodman) in New Jersey but is ready to take a stab at her dream of moving to New York City to become a songwriter. Best buddy Gloria (Melanie Lynskey, "Heavenly Creatures") helps her make the move, lends her some cash and returns to their hometown. Soon Violet finds out that the only way she can get anyone to listen to her songs is to sing them herself, but she suffers from the same stagefright that nipped her deceased mom's songwriting career in the bud.

Violet gets hoodwinked by a club bouncer into thinking the grill guy is the music promoter and pushes a cassette on Kevin O'Donnell (Adam Garcia, "Wilde"). The slick Australian tries to use the situation as a pickup, but soon he's smitten by both the girl and her talent.

Violet hits bottom when her crummy walkup is ransacked and Gloria's monetary gift is stolen. Desperate for a job, she finds herself getting an 'audition' from Lil (Maria Bello, "Permanent Midnight"), the tough cookie owner of Coyote Ugly, a bar where the vampy barmaids rule the roost, dance on the bar and swing from exposed ceiling pipes. This provides the means for Violet (nicknamed Jersey by Lil) to come out of her shell and find her voice, but also sets up conflict with her protective dad and new boyfriend Kevin.

Written by Gina Wendkos (TV's "Wiseguy"), "Coyote Ugly" capitilzes on a real New York hot spot while going through familar, predictable paces. Some of the dialogue, especially in early scenes, is stiff and unnatural ('Bless me father, for I have sinned' says Violet as she dons a crop top for her second night as a Coyote - I think this was supposed to be deep.) However, as the film progresses it does manage to engage on a sheer entertainment level for a number of reasons.

This could be a starmaking vehicle for Piper Perabo, whose fresh faced beauty and wide smile resemble Alanis Morissette crossed with Julia Roberts. That said, producer Jerry Bruckheimer's "Flashdance" only took then newcomer Jennifer Beals so far. Perabo is certainly likeable, however, once she gets past some awkward scripting. (Country star Leann Rimes provides Violet's appropriately Lillith Fairish vocals and gets a cameo at the film's end.) Adam Garcia is a find as her romantic foil - he's streetwise against her naivety, yet sexy, sensitive and supportive. Maria Bello is a standout as tough bar owner Lil - she can handle just about anything and looks good doing it.

The film is well choreographed (Travis Payne) and tightly editted (William Boldenberg, "The Insider"). The bar scenes snap, crackle and pop, whether customers are being hosed down for ordering water or just gaping in awe at the help gyrating above them (the ladies get their due, too, when Coyotes decide to auction off available men at their whim). Rest assured, all this is presented as good, clean fun.

The other Coyotes - Cammie (Polish actress Izabella Miko in her U.S. film debut), Rachel (Bridget Moynahan, Natasha of TV's "Sex and the City") and Zoe (Tyra Banks of Victoria Secrets' catalogue) are merely types, with Zoe departing the action when Jersey comes aboard. Goodman is sweet as Violet's dad even if their relationship plays a bit too good to be true for real life. New Zealander Lynskey is solid and sports a mean Jersey accent as Violet's ultra supportive friend.

"Coyote Ugly" isn't great cinema by a long shot, but it's a summer flick with a hip soundtrack that achieves its modest goals.

    B-

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    laura@reelingreviews.com
    robin@reelingreviews.com

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