DVD REVIEW: COYOTE UGLY (UE) & GONE IN 60 SECONDS (DC)

Thank GOD Coyote Ugly came along when it did. Because for too long now the “hot young chicks with nothing but their big dreams to sustain them” demographic has sorely been underrepresented in Hollywood over the last few years…. On the real, there’s no need to explain this movie. It’s a tried and true formula in film that’s been making money forever. You’ve got a hot young thing (typically human, usually female) that dreams of getting out of whatever situation she’s in and going for the brass ring. There’s difficult situations and setbacks along the way, be they job or family-related. There’s definitely romance involved, and as a rule there’s always a pep talk skulking around the flick somewhere waiting to spring and a sappy yet inspirational theme song waiting to chase it. In the end, the hot young thing overcomes her self doubts, naysayers, believes in herself and achieves her dreams. Queue theme song, roll credits. As a pseudo-subgenre of the chick flick, you could call it the “Go-For-It” genre for lack of a better term.

Anyway, Coyote is the story of Violet Sanford (relative newcomer Piper Perabo), a New Jersey suburbanite who works at the local pizza joint but who dreams of becoming a songwriter in the Big Bad Apple. So she makes the 42-mile move, even though her father (John Goodman) isn’t thrilled to see her go. Violet ends up pounding the pavement and meeting rejection from every record company in town, who won’t even listen to her demo tape. The only “success” she has is in giving her tape to “Mr.” Kevin O’Donnell (Adam Garcia) when a buddy of his dupes her into believing that he’s a music exec, when in fact he’s merely a grill man. Violet is mortified at the deception, but they eventually make up and begin dating (Yea!!). It’s not long, however, before Violet’s nearly broke and in danger of having to move back home. But a chance meeting with three gorgeous bartenders (Tyra Banks, Bridget Moynihan, Izabella Miko) who are waving wads of cash around leads her to apply at the bar where they work – Coyote Ugly.

Coyote is such a textbook example of one of these “Go-For-It” chick flicks that there’s a pop quiz after viewing it. It’s devoid of any originality or surprises, unless you count John Goodman’s character ending up in the hospital…and considering Goodman’s weight, I always expect him to be in the hospital. I dig Goodman’s work immensely, but every time I see him in a movie, I worry that he’s going to leave us long before we’re ready for him to. Considering that this is the Director’s Cut, and that I hadn’t seen this movie all the way through in five years, I couldn’t tell you what was added or not. There is a juicy little tidbit with naked Perabo in a love scene that’s worth mentioning. Skin aside, Perabo is able to hold the film together despite its paper-thin premise and she has a strong "early-Buffy Sarah Michelle Gellar" vibe happening here. Nevertheless, if you know anything about this movie then you know there’s only one thing we give a damn about seeing and that’s the hot chicks dancing on the bars. And in that respect, the movie’s decent, but it’s not enough to make up for the cookie cutter rest of the flick.

Surprisingly, this film was shot in what looks to be to be 2.35:1, which you can usually expect to find on big magnum opus flicks. I suppose Bruckheimer wanted us to get the best possible view of the girls shaking their moneymakers…that was nice of him. The transfer is good also. I’m sure if you have a nice plasma or widescreen TV the view will get even better.

8.1 out of 10

The Noise

There’s no explosions or anything of that sort to give your woofers a workout. But there is a Diane Warren/Leann Rimes soundtrack sprinkled throughout the movie if you dig that kind of music.

8.2 out of 10

The Goodies

Commentary: The Coyotes (Piper Perabo, Tyra Banks, Bridget Moynihan, Izabella Miko, Maria Bello) and Jerry Bruckheimer and director David McNally. Two commentaries into one, neither particularly earth shattering. Here’s a challenge for you though: see how long you can listen to five women (albeit it hot ones) talking about nothing before you jump off the nearest ledge…

For the rest of the features, the producers went with the hit and run tactic in their behind-the-scenes stuff, going with 2 to 4-minute shorts rather than one long documentary:

Search for the Stars: Casting Piper Perabo, the Coyotes, Mr. O’Donnell

Coyote 101: Calling the Shots, A Place to get Ugly, Shakin’ It – shorts on actor preparation for dancing and learning how to bartend Cocktail-style and filming the bar scenes.

Inside the Music: Details Diane Warren’s soundtrack and Leann Rimes singing the songs and being the singing voice for Violet.

Action Overload: In typical Bruckheimer fashion, a minute of super quick cuts of Coyotes flying all over the bar pouring drinks fast enough to keep up with Jan-Michael Vincent. Remember those “blip-verts” from Max Headroom that would make you explode if you watched them? Same deal.

Theatrical trailer

7.2 out of 10

The Artwork

Exactly like the theatrical and first-run DVD cover. But this time with a brick wall slipcover. That’s gangsta, homey.

6.1 out of 10

The Flick

Our second scoop brings us to the second coming of a Nic Cage flick which was itself a second coming of a 1974 chase movie – Gone in 60 Seconds. This is also an extended cut, in this case a Director’s Cut, but unlike Coyote, I could tell where the extra/changed scenes were. If you liked Gone initially, then this new cut will add a little (a very little) somethin’ somethin’ for you. If you hated the movie, thought it was just okay, or didn’t think it measured up to the original, then this new cut isn’t going to do much to change your mind.

As for Dominic Sena’s direction and Scott Rosenberg’s script, I’d say I’ve definitely seen better but have also seen worse. Rosenberg has done some good work with Beautiful Girls, High Fidelity and Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead. I find that when he gets to hard core action, he can get a little ridiculous in places. This is never more apparent than in Con Air. First time I saw that flick, I wanted to hurl, especially at the bullshit ending with Cage and the fire engine. But that’s a rant best saved for the Director’s Cut of that movie, which is almost a future certainty. However, that movie, along with this one have a way of sticking with me, once I give myself up to the realization that if I’m looking for Mamet here, I’m going to be waiting a while…a long while. Rosenberg does succeed at keeping all of his plates spinning for Gone, though, and Bruckheimer has indeed assembled a fun cast at the very least. I find Cage had pretty much the same demeanor that I liked in National Treasure, and lost whatever he had in Con Air, which was a good thing.

The other major change is when the Raines boys reunite and talk about the old days and the situation they’re in. If you remember the scene where Kip is burning Memphis’ breakfast, that was shot a completely different way and it’s replaced in this cut. The Raines brothers’ relationship in the director’s cut doesn’t come together as easily or as quickly as the theatrical cut either, as there’s little bits of strife between the two here and there. Look for extra footage covering this when they’re talking as they’re stealing Ferraris in a warehouse And sorry, but Angelina’s not seen much if any more in this cut than the theatrical.

Overall, I find that I’m a little more forgiving of Gone in 60 Seconds than most other reviewers. If you don’t know what you’re in for going into a Bruckheimer action flick, then you only have yourself to blame. This new cut doesn’t add a whole hell of a lot to the picture as much as say Chronicles of Riddick or especially, Daredevil, but I could see the changes where it counted. And while this isn’t up to the same level as even Bruckheimer’s most recent fare, I liked it enough to recommend.

The look is good, also in what looks to be 2.35:1, which helps with the car chase at the end to be sure. The film is lighted well and you can be sure that, if nothing else, a Bruckheimer-produced film is always going to look good. I myself found that the camera work and editing in the ending chase was good also. The re-editing in the shipyard definitely helps.

8.4 out of 10

The Noise

There’s no standout soundtrack like in Coyote. But the sound work in the chase is good. The crashes, crunching metal, etc. sound just fine.

7.6 out of 10

The Goodies

Most of the goodies here match the format that they had in Coyote. The behind-the-scenes stuff is in Bruckheimer-time, meaning that they’re short and to the point:

Wild Rides – Stunts and Nicolas Cage

Stars on the Move – quickie featurettes on the major characters, broken down by age, race and socio-economic status

The Big Chase – three quickies on the climactic Mustang scramble: LA Streets, The Shipyard and the Big Jump.

Conversations with Producer Jerry Bruckheimer – a slightly longer feature on Jerry Bruckheimer and his films, leading up to him dishing about Pearl Harbor.

Action Overload: Another blip-vert.

The Cult Music Video

I’m on the fence about how the goodies on these two discs were presented. On the one hand it’s nice to be able to jump to a particular feature you want to see right away and see them in the order you want rather than in a long, by-the-numbers documentary. On the other it seems like they’re made for people with severe ADHD, and none more than Action Overload.

This is the general vibe I got from the artwork:

Cage: “Try to remember. What was it like to star in an Oscar-caliber movie?”
Jolie: “Who cares? Where’s the meth?”

The fact that they essentially cut the original art in half to replace with a tire tread doesn’t help. But at least it’s in a shiny slipcover.