Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

I Saw the Light Blu-ray Movie Review

Dim.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 9, 2016

With the flood of music biopics saturating the movie marketplace, it would seem that precious few high profile entertainers have ever lived a mundane life not in some form or fashion worthy of retelling for the screen. Just recently artists such as James Brown and Miles Davis have been the subject of films, though many of the world's top musical artists, from Mozart to Jim Morrison, have had their lives dissected and depicted on the silver screen in absorbingly intimate portraits. Few have ventured into the Country Music scene, however, even considering its rich history and the incredible talent that has dominated the charts over the decades. I Saw the Light tells the story of the iconic Hank Williams, whose rise to stardom in the 1940s would influence countless artists across many genres and whose early death in 1953 remains one of the most notable all-too-early losses in music history.

Hank Sr.

Hank Williams (Tom Hiddleston) marries Audrey (Elizabeth Olsen). He's a singer, and he has dreams of preforming at the Grand Ole Opry. But he's brash and doesn't want to jump through the hoops necessary to make it onto that stage. But he persists, and even as his wife's occasional singing drags the band down, Hank breaks through with top hits that land him at the top of the world. But his life is far from perfect. Physical pain, alcoholism, addiction, and mental instability keep him from being the man he needs to be to sustain his personal life and career success, putting him down the path of a dark road from which he may never escape.

I Saw the Light centers on a complex figure but the film never explores those complexities to deep, understanding, or character-transformative satisfaction. Unlike Hank's music, the film lacks rhythm and soul. It favors crude cinema maneuverings, simple drama, a basic structure that never seems to move beyond the superficialities and explore the man behind the music, the alcoholism, the sickness, and the premature death. In fact, take the name "Hank Williams" off the character and make this a fictionalized story of a make-believe Country artist, and chances are at least casual audiences wouldn't notice many, if any, similarities or influences. It's jerky, favoring scattershot snapshot scenes that tell a linear story of Hank's later life, beginning with his marriage and ending with the announcement of his death, but there's no lifeblood to it. Director Marc Abraham crafts the movie without much of an emotional pull or sense of greater purpose. It tells the story of the man without exploring him. It shares his music without reaching to demonstrate its legacy or influences. It's disappointingly straightforward and more a reach for a story than an organic cinema venture of a tale that needed to be told.

The movie does benefit from the casting of Tom Hiddleston, whose performance of the Country music legend appears involved and well researched. The British actor, portraying a distinctly Southern American, falls into character with a convincing grace and stability, even through the character's decidedly unstable ways: his battles with alcoholism, pills, pain, and women. Hiddleston also performs Williams' songs for the film, and even as Williams' grandson, Hank III, reportedly lambasted the casting and the performance, one cannot help but admire the work if only for the dedication to the part and the craft of both acting and singing alike. The movie's production is resultantly all the stronger, with the lead saturated into the role and the support structure around him -- co-stars and richly authentic period costumes and locations -- helping to immerse the viewer into the place and time. It's a shame that the movie can't scratch beyond its richly realized superficialities.

I Saw the Light Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

I Saw the Light shines on Blu-ray with a commendably detailed and healthily colored 1080p transfer. The digitally sourced picture never suffers from excess flatness or glossiness, instead providing a fair film-like reproduction that exposes details with ease. Period clothing textures are particularly well defined; shirts, jackets, dresses, ties, hats, the entire ensemble presents with plenty of strong tactile texturing that allows viewers to explore them all with ease. Faces are likewise full of life and detail, including pores and sweat. Raw, rough edges around 40s bars, concert halls, studios, homes, and other locations always find plenty of quality supportive areas. Colors occasionally favor a deliberately, and mildly, beige/bronzed look, but the general palette reveals plenty if healthy yellows, reds, and natural exterior greens. The film, on the whole, however, feels more smoky and hazy and slightly dark than it does cheerful and punchy. Black levels hold true, as do flesh tones. No readily apparent or distracting artifacts are visible.

I Saw the Light Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

I Saw the Light's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack carries the film's music nicely. Vocals are clear and detailed; audiences will be able to hear all the range and nuance in Hiddleston's voice. Instrumentals are likewise exacting, with guitar strums and notes floating through the stage with lifelike detailing. Surrounds are not frequently engaged, but they do show up when necessary. Rainfall at the beginning moves from front heavy to more immersive with an angle change. Natural exterior insect ambience fills the stage in one scene. Crowd cheers satisfyingly ripple through the speakers. Dialogue delivery is clear and detailed with strong prioritization, save for a few moments early on when an offstage exchange is forced to compete with onstage music.

I Saw the Light Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

I Saw the Light contains a commentary track, deleted scenes, and several quality featurettes. A UV digital copy code is included with purchase.

• Audio Commentary: Writer/Director Marc Abraham discusses the styles used in the film and why he chose to film certain scenes the way he did in order to protray the life of Hank Williams and reveal the sides of him that people didn't really know. Other topics include the development of the music protrayed in the film, the history of Hank's life as it lead into the film's development, the writing process, filming with a real baby, why he chose to have Tom sing the music, and choices made for filming locations, set design, and props.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Includes two options: Play All (13:51) and Play All with Introductions by Marc Abraham (22:07). There's also Introduction to Deleted Scenes by Marc Abraham (0:40). Scenes include Being an Artist is Paniful, In the Doghouse, Are You Trouble?, A Drink with Bobbie Jett, Come See Me Anytime, Oscar's Wedding Ideas, Engagement and Obligation, Backstage with Daddy, Keeping Tabs on Hank, and The Train Through Muina.
• Talking Hank (1080p, 21:39): Peter Cooper of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum hosts Actor Tom Hiddleston and Executive Music Producer Rodney Crowel. They discuss what it was like for Tom to become Hank Williams for the film. Interspersed with scenes from the film, they discuss Tom recieving the screenplay, working with Rodney to learn how to sing and play like Hank, learning Hank's music, trying to protray the darkness within Hank, showing the strain within Hank and Audrey's marriage, and the poetry in Hank's music. The piece ends with a musical performance by Tom Hiddleston and Rodney Crowel.
• Illuminating a Legend: Inside I Saw the Light (1080p, 13:06): Cast and crew discuss Hank Williams' life and music and how the filmmakers tried to capture it for the film. This supplement includes discussions on writing the script, casting Tom Hiddleston and his journey to becoming Hank with Rodney Crowel's help, Hiddleston's musical ability (he sings all the songs in the film), recreating the other characters in the film, the emotion in Hank's music, and the legacy and influence of Hank's music.
• A Night in Nashville: Premiere and Musical Performance by Tom Hiddleston (1080p, 10:52): Cast and crew attend the the film's Nashville premiere. Tom covers of some of Hank's famous songs at the after party.
• Theatrical Trailer (1080p, 2:04).
• Previews (1080p): Additional Sony titles.

I Saw the Light Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Hank Williams deserves a great biopic. I Saw the Light isn't it. While the film is terrific on the surface -- the lead performance and production values soar -- it lacks heart and rhythm, playing with a choppy, structurally inconsequential narrative that tells Williams' story but doesn't find its greater meaning. And even as Hank's impact and influence on the direction of Country music -- and the music scene in a much broader sense -- cannot be denied, it would seem that the life of Hanks' son, Hank Jr. (or "Bocephus"), would probably make for a richer biggish-budget film. Look up his story. It's rather incredible and has "movie" written all over it (and his story was told in the 1983 TV movie Living Proof, and Hank Sr.'s story was previously told in the 1964 film Your Cheatin' Heart). Sony's Blu-ray release of I Saw the Light does feature excellent video and audio as well as a healthy allotment of extras. The film is worth watching; it's just more disappointing than it is satisfying.