Dave This 'small-town girl in the big city' film is really lame. Coyote Ugly attempts several things (humour, drama, romance, sexiness, feminism) and fails on all counts. The acting is awful; the characters are weak and incomplete. The film can't decide what it is or what pace to go at.

oOoBarracuda David McNally directed the sexually charged Coyote Ugly at the turn of the millennium. His film starred Piper Perabo and Adam Garcia in the familiar tale of a girl leaving her small town to try to make it in the big city. If you're thinking "I've seen this storyline before, do I need to see Coyote Ugly" the answer is no. The film is just as boring and formulaic as it seems despite girls dancing on top of bars while pouring pitchers of water on themselves--I suddenly realize why the film grossed so much. Violet Sanford (Piper Perabo) is tired of waiting tables at a diner in her small town in New Jersey and only writing her music part-time. She is ready to make the leap to nearby New York and begin the pursuit of her songwriting endeavors full-time. After finishing her last shift at the diner and getting a wonderful send off from her friends, Violet goes home to pack the car for the move. Her father, Bill (John Goodman) is reluctant to let his only daughter loose in The Big Apple, and it's clear that she has taken a parental role over her father since her mother's death years prior. He eventually is as supportive as he can be with her departure. After arriving at the run-down apartment which is all she can afford, Violet's best friend Gloria (Melanie Lynskey) hides money in Violet's freezer that she is reluctant to take. After several disappointments in trying to get the mixtapes of her songs to studios and agents, Violet finds herself disappointed and rejected. When she returns home to find her apartment ransacked and her belongings stolen Violet cries and questions whether or not she should return home. While out for a slice of pie to drown her sorrows, Violet overhears a conversation between several girls waving money around at a nearby table. Violet gathers that they are "coyotes" working at a nearby bar. Following the bread crumbs she has sniffed out, Violet seeks the bar out looking for a quick way to make a lot of money. Violet is initially stunned to find out that the bar she has happened upon is a city hotspot in which the girls comprise a team of sexy women who entice patrons to pay for the show they put on. The rest of the girls can sniff out Violet's small-town upbringing, but what they can't sniff out is the passion for her dreams that will push her to do whatever it takes to succeed. Oh, of course, there is a love interest that initially looks like it's not going to work out.Of course, she's from a small town and wants to move to a big city, of course, she's the parental figure in her single parent home, of course, her apartment gets broken into, of course she loses everything she's saved for months, of course her friend from back home left money in the freezer, of course she overheard that there would be a position open at the bar, of course she was too shy to dance on top of a bar, of course she had outdated technology making it near impossible to adequately get her art distributed, of course, she had a love interest that she was reluctant towards, of course, she had stage fright--except when she was with the coyotes, and of course she eventually made it. I'm not kidding when I say this is one of the most predictable movies I have ever seen in my life. It's also aged horribly and was difficult to watch, as most films that prominently feature technology, clothes, and music. Throughout the entire film, when I'm supposed to be buying into how hard this beautiful white woman's life is, I kept asking myself, "how hard can your life really be, you have perfect hair--if all else fails, shampoo commercials. A film as predictable and lazy as this just has nowhere to land with me, and few redeeming qualities about it, with the exception of John Goodman, he's always good--certainly the bright spot of this pile of garbage.

Samiam3 A shy Jersey girl hits New York hoping to be an aspiring song writer and she ends up working at a sleazy joint doing dances on the bar with her fellow 'coyotes'. Why is this happening? What kind of moron would use such a contorted device to advance a story? Unfortunately, Coyote Ugly doesn't not want to be a descent music movie, it wants to be Showgirls; a bad decision. I'll give points to the choreographer for staging a bar dancing style that doesn't rely so much on nudity to sell (unlike Showgirls), however that fact that the movie spends more time on such sequences than it does on anything else, results in Coyote Ugly being pretty Indescent. On the other hand, Coyote Ugly, is a much nicer film than Showgirls. There are fewer A**holes in the cast of characters, and far more laughs (although some may be unintentional)None of this however changes the fact that the storyline is tripe. Of course the intended audience won't care, but even if one treats the film as pure eye candy, its effectiveness doesn't go beyond moderate. Coyote Ugly feels wacky and rushed, and it's over before you know it. Ignoring the indecency, I don't feel there's quite enough here to warrant a look.

Jackson Booth-Millard I knew about this film for two reasons, the big actor from The Flintstones being in it, and the successful song, I was certainly interested, from director David McNally (Kangaroo Jack) and producer Jerry Bruckheimer (Top Gun, The Rock, Con Air). Basically Violet Sanford (The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle's Piper Perabo) is an aspiring teenage songwriter, and she finally gets her dream of going professional going when she leaves home and heads for New York City. She finds herself a place to stay, but her efforts to give her demo tape to a music producer are useless, and then her apartment gets broken into leaving her with nothing. Feeling useless she gets some lunch with what she has left, and by coincidence she overhears some girls who work at a bar as they say goodbye to worker Zoe (Tyra Banks). This leads Violet to the Coyote Ugly bar, run by Lil (Maria Bello), who gives her a chance behind the bar to experience what goes on, and Violet is surprised to see that it is a very raunchy bar, the girls call the shots, they thrust moves on the bar counter, and the attraction of what pulls in the punters. Lil warned her that she may not last long at the bar, but after meeting Kevin O'Donnell (Adam Garcia) she learns more of the ways of the city, and gains a bit more confidence to work in the bar, she also auctions him off to get money she needed. But what she really needs is confidence on stage, as her demo tapes aren't gaining the interest, so she needs to sing the songs herself live and maybe get some attention that way, and Kevin tries to help her with her stage fright. One night while working in Coyote Ugly there is an incident that causes a fight, so Violet grabs the microphone and sings along to the song on the jukebox, Blondie's "One Way or Another", and that gains the bar some more punters. Violet's toll-booth father Bill (John Goodman) does find out about the bar and doesn't approve seeing what goes on, and there is a point when he has a car accident, but he survives and supports his daughter with any decision she wants to make. After having a disagreement with each other, Kevin returns to give her confidence as well, and she completes a new song ready to present at a live show for newcomer singers, musicians and writers. In the end, Violet initially still has stage fright, but Kevin helps her and she gets through her song gaining high interest, and of course in the end a professional singer, LeAnn Rimes comes to Coyote Ugly to perform her song with her, and a proud Bill gets auctioned. Also starring Izabella Miko as Cammie, Bridget Moynahan as Rachel, Heavenly Creatures' Melanie Lynskey as Gloria, Del Pentecost as Lou and Johnny Knoxville as College Guy. Perabo is pretty good in the lead role, Goodman gets his humorous moments, including that scene where he lies about eating a vegetable meal when it is in fact KFC and going "yum", the raunchy is obviously very easy to enjoy, the music soundtrack is all good, the story is pretty much a cross between Flashdance and Cocktail, it may be a little predictable, but "Can't Fight The Moonlight" by LeAnn Rimes is a fantastic number one hit song, it's not a bad romantic comedy drama at all. Okay!