Babe-O-Rama.

Rating: 5/10 (11 August 2000)

COYOTE UGLY is a nice romantic/drama/comedy that is uplifting and delightful. It brings hope that no matter where you come from in the U.S. you can always make it in the big bad city. Except that I've already seen almost every John Cusack and John Hughes film, so it becomes routine and cliche. If you haven't seen those films, which chances are you have, since they are in color, then COYOTE UGLY is nothing new. Every movie were a girl from a small town goes to a big city, either New York City or Los Angeles. This time it's New York, but the main star, Violet (Piper Perabo) wants to become a songwriter, but she needs to pay for rent and other necessities (my guess is make-up). So she goes from recording studio to studio dropping off her tapes for recording agents can listen to, but then that crummy copyright law gets in the way, damn lawyers. So what is Violet to do but to work in a evening hot spot bar called Coyote Ugly. The bar is owned by Lil (Maria Bello) a energetic boss/bartender who is concerned about making money and not breaking the law. There are other bartender's as well, Cammie (Izabella Miko) a sweet and kind bartender who usually melts men's hearts with her dancing. Rachel (Bridget Moynahan) a tough as nails woman who releases her agression on the male customers. And Zoe (Tyra Banks) a bartender who's on her way out to go to law school. And what the women do at the bar is like a mixture of SHOWGIRLS and COCKTAIL. They dance very erotic while pouring drinks, (hey, why can't every city have a bar like these?) And the girls bring in lots of money nightly, mega bucks amount. While Violet is learning the ropes at the bar, and saving her money, she builds up a romance with a man who has multiple jobs, Kevin (Adam Garcia). And Violet communicates with her worried some father (John Goodman) who takes money at a toll booth. One thing that ran through my mind with COYOTE UGLY is that it is the most erotic and sexiest pronography where everyone keeps thier clothes on. The way these women dance, it comes close to a strip club dance than anything else. The other thing that ran through my mind is the plot. I kept guessing on what was going to happen, and I was right. It's a romantic routine film, girl meets boy, they fall in love, they fight, they make-up, etc. What did I like about this movie? Well, first there are the women, they are attractive and very beautiful. Also each girl has a flame of talent that is begging to get out, however director David McNally sticks with the routine and shows too little of the girls at the bar and more with just Violet trying to succeed. Then there's the two charming men, Adam Garcia and John Goodman. Garcia is enjoyable as the romantic male, he is funny and charming at times, but he's also hammy and cheesy. And speaking of food, John Goodman is also funny as the father of Violet who refuses to diet and to watch over his little girl. But it's that darn bloody script that ruins everything. It's a script that could be shown in a screenwriting class, in fact I think they have shown it in my class. The typical rags from riches story, just with five women shaking their stuff while serving alcohol, man's two favorite things. When I talked to producer Jerry Bruckheimer last March about COYOTE UGLY, he told me that, "there are going to be A LOT of hot looking women in it." And guess what? HE'S RIGHT!! There are a lot of hot looking women in this film, sadly they have nowhere to go. This is similar to Bruckheimer's last drama, FLASHDANCE. I think Bruckheimer should stick with action films, he's much better with those. *** (out of five)