Support the Free Press | Facts matter. Truth matters. Journalism matters
Salt Lake City Weekly has been Utah's source of independent news and in-depth journalism since 1984. Donate today to ensure the legacy continues.
Film Search
click to enlarge
You’d think that Walk Hard might have driven a spike through the heart of “ponderous biopics about tortured musicians” as a sub-genre, yet here we are. Writer/director Marc Abraham (Flash of Genius) bypasses a cradle-to-grave structure for the story of country music legend Hank Williams (Tom Hiddleston), opening in 1953 with his marriage at the age of 23 to first wife Audrey (Elizabeth Olsen), and following his brief career from honky-tonk bar gigs to Grand Ole Opry star. Predictable music-bio conflicts ensue (substance abuse, marital woes), sprinkled with performances of classic songs like “Move It On Over,” Hey Good Lookin’” and “Your Cheatin’ Heart.” What’s missing is an actual point to any of it, beyond running through the bullet points of Williams’ professional and personal life, and allowing Hiddleston to show off a quite serviceable physical and vocal transformation. A late sequence involving a journalist interviewing Williams hints at some of the issues underlying his facility with heartbreaking lyrics, but a story about a great but doomed artist needs to have more to say than, “This artist was great; too bad that he was doomed.”
Official Site: sonyclassics.com/isawthelight
Director: Marc Abraham
Producer: Aaron Gilbert, Brett Ratner, G. Roswell, Marc Abraham, Patty Long, Jason Cloth, John Raymonds and James Packer
Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Elizabeth Olsen, Bradley Whitford, David Krumholtz, Cherry Jones, Maddie Hasson, Wes Langlois and Wrenn Schmidt
Director: Marc Abraham
Producer: Aaron Gilbert, Brett Ratner, G. Roswell, Marc Abraham, Patty Long, Jason Cloth, John Raymonds and James Packer
Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Elizabeth Olsen, Bradley Whitford, David Krumholtz, Cherry Jones, Maddie Hasson, Wes Langlois and Wrenn Schmidt
