The approximate story of country music and songwriting legend Hank Williams, filtered through his first-wife's narrow viewpoint (Hank actually had a bossy mother and second wife but you wouldn't know it from this), 1960's Hollywood's fear of authenticity, and the whole thing put together by a sort of Elvis Presley movie second unit. It's not a great movie, and it's an excessively loose telling of Hank's life, but George Hamilton's performance makes it work as a dated fantasy biopic, like one of those Jimmy Cagney or Victor Mature musicals from the 40's or 50's. Incidental ragtime music during a fight sequence, anyone? It's the South, Jim, but not as we know it.
There's a lot wrong with the story, the casting and the production values but it's all forgivable EXCEPT the addition of a backing vocals quartet and cocktail-lounge piano to the arrangements of Hank Williams' great songs. That stinks. And no fiddle? No pedal steel guitar? No FIDDLE? Everything that people who don't know country music would identify with its schmaltziest aspects, but amazingly the songs stand up to the abuse.
You will learn nothing about Hank Williams from this apart from the odd catchphrase, and you will get a lot of wrong information. But it's all there is, apart from 'The Show He Never Gave' and 'Lost Highway'. As others have said here, a 'Walk The Line' or 'Ray' type biopic of the man who paved the way for Elvis, wrote many more great songs than The Beatles and The Rolling Stones put together, and died before his 30th birthday is long overdue. Just needs somebody tall and skinny who can lip-sync.
There's a lot wrong with the story, the casting and the production values but it's all forgivable EXCEPT the addition of a backing vocals quartet and cocktail-lounge piano to the arrangements of Hank Williams' great songs. That stinks. And no fiddle? No pedal steel guitar? No FIDDLE? Everything that people who don't know country music would identify with its schmaltziest aspects, but amazingly the songs stand up to the abuse.
You will learn nothing about Hank Williams from this apart from the odd catchphrase, and you will get a lot of wrong information. But it's all there is, apart from 'The Show He Never Gave' and 'Lost Highway'. As others have said here, a 'Walk The Line' or 'Ray' type biopic of the man who paved the way for Elvis, wrote many more great songs than The Beatles and The Rolling Stones put together, and died before his 30th birthday is long overdue. Just needs somebody tall and skinny who can lip-sync.