I Saw the Light starring Tom Hiddleston & Elizabeth Olsen: See it or Skip it?

I dunno. It looked pretty good to me. The trailer for I Saw the Light with Tom Hiddleston, everybody’s favorite Loki, taking on the portrayal of American country music classic, Hank Williams looked—and sounded—good to me.

Now the movie has opened and YIPES! those rotten tomato ratings are not looking good. The reviews reveal that while Tom Hiddleston–Hiddles as his fans affectionately dub him—is in fact great as Williams, the movie is not so much.

Glenn Kenny at RogerEbert.com gave it two stars:

“While Hiddleston’s is the standout performance, and why not, the rest of the cast is formidable: Elizabeth Olsen, Cherry Jones, Bradley Whitford, David Krumholtz and a host of others do superb work in roles of spouse, mother, business associate, and so on. 

And yet the movie flounders.” 

Kenny blames writer/director Marc Abraham for not being able to put together a coherent story out of William’s woefully tragic and incoherent life. 

Peter Travers at the Rolling Stone notes Americans might bitch about a Brit playing the American country star who died at age 29, his death fueled by alcoholism and addiction:

“But haters should snap out of it. Hiddleston is a virtuoso and he gives the role his considerable all, including singing such Hank hits as "You're Cheatin' Heart," "Lovesick Blues" and the title song in a voice that persuasively suggests the real thing. It helps that he's singling live with a backup band. Hiddleston is not what's wrong with this movie. But damn near everything else is.”

 Travers blames Abraham too:

“Writer-director Marc Abraham has made the boneheaded decision to focus on Williams as a horndog boozer, leaving the creation of his music as an afterthought. Wait, what? You heard me. Instead of discovering something about the exhilaration Williams found in carving out his feelings in song, we get endless scenes of marital discord and drunken self pity.” 

Isn’t that a pity! If you could care less about the critics—my bff wants me to see My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 with her even though I’ve told her the critics have been less than kind— I Saw the Light is in theaters now. I’m thinking of trying o convince her to see I Saw the Light instead. 

Have you seen I Saw the Light? Should I see My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 with my pal, or try to persuade her to give Tom Hiddleston’s latest movie a go?

See it or Skip it? You tell me.