Pretend just for a few seconds that you are an aspiring song writer. You realize that the only way to possibly succeed in doing that would mean having to pick up and move elsewhere to do it. Mind you, you don’t have much money or a job waiting for you at this destination but you know you are good enough and will stop at nothing to get what you want. Do you forgo your dreams and wonder what could have been or do you pick up and go?

That brings us to Coyote Ugly.

Violet (Piper Perabo) is a twenty something girl who is an aspiring song writer. Her dream is to go to New York City and get her music sung by a famous singer. So, Violet has decided to leave her home in South Amboy, NJ and do just that. Once she arrives in New York, she decides it is time to hit the streets and visit as many record labels and talent agencies as she can. Of course, at each one she visits, she is turned down. She somehow never bothered to find out exactly what she needed to do to get her music published. Once someone clues her in, she decides to visit a club for an open mic night. This way, maybe someone in the music industry will spot her and sign her. As soon as she gets on stage, Violet freezes and walks off. Not a great start for her music career.

Soon after leaving the club, Violet arrives home to find her apartment has been robbed and any money that she had is now gone. So, what is a girl to do after her place has been robbed? Go to a diner of course for some coffee and pie. While there, Violet takes notice of three scantily dressed women at a table near by having a good old time. Curious as to what they do, she asks the diner owner. He tells her, they are Coyotes. You know, they work at a bar called Coyote Ugly.

Unable to help overhearing how much money they make there and being desperate for cash, Violet decides to visit the bar and get a job there. Of course, she still doesn’t have a clue as to what they do at the bar.

After being hired, she quickly finds out what they do. They not only bartend, but they dance provocatively on top of the bar, spray beer on the customers and all the while looking really sexy doing it.

So, what Violet has to do is: Learn to dance on a bar, dress sexy and wear as little clothing as possible all the while trying to find a way to get over her stage fright and get her music known. What is a beautiful girl from New Jersey to do?

Video

First off, you have your choice of watching the Extended version (107 minutes) or the Original Theatrical version (101 minutes.) For this review, I watched the extended. The video is far from perfect as the print is definitely not up “Disney” standards. Mind you, Touchstone is in the same family as Disney so I was definitely expecting better. Colors are fine and skin tones look okay but not great. There are plenty of white and black specs of dirt that appear pretty consistently. Also, at times, the image appears a bit soft. The light grain that does appear is mostly within the night club to give off the”hazy bar scene effect,” I would guess.

Audio

The audio is really top notch here. The surrounds are given a total workout here. The audio definitely makes up for the lackluster video quality. The audio channels available are: English 5.1 Uncompressed as well as English and French 5.1 Dolby Digital. Also, Spanish 5.1 (extended) and 2.0 are available (original.)

The movie is pretty music heavy which gives the bass a nice thumping. The balance between the front, center and surrounds is spot on as I had no problem understanding anything said or sung in the movie.

Special Features

• Deleted Scenes (Violet’s Goodbye, Driving with Gloria, Stolen Goods, Lil’s Lesson, Gloria & Violet)
• Music Video: Can’t Fight The Moonlight” by LeAnn Rimes
• Inside The Songs
• Theatrical Trailer
• Coyote 101
• Action Overload
• Search for the Stars (The Dreamer, The Coyotes, Mr. O’Donnell)

Final Thoughts

When I first watched Coyote Ugly, I really didn’t like it. If I recall correctly, I think I fell asleep while watching it. I didn’t give it a chance because it was a “chick” flick. After a few years went by I had the chance to watch it again. I realized it wasn’t a chick flick after all but actually a guy flick. Think about it. You have sexy women dancing and soaking themselves with buckets of water. Sounds like a movie for men if you ask me! Sure the movie is corny and predictable, but it is a movie that doesn’t make you think and if you throw out all believability, you’ll enjoy the movie.