“I Saw the Light” Biopic

What are your thoughts???

Another candidate for Oscar biopic will be the ‘I Saw the Light’ and it seemed that Hank Williams’ biopic ‘I Saw the Light’ was all set to be a big Academy Award player back in the midst of 2015.

It is somewhat interesting to take note of considering how small this week’s platform release of the film is as well as its middling festival circuit reception that seems less than likely. The main point of consideration was going to be Tom Hiddleston as Williams as well as potentially Elizabeth Olsen as wife Audrey Williams though now fans suspect they’re fringe players at best.

The movie is a fairly standard biopic and the subject is legendary country-western singer Hank Williams and his life that was cut short of course. Hiddleston plays Williams who sees his stratospheric rise to fame negatively affect his health as well as the wellbeing of those around him including wife Audrey. This means that the film more or less hits all of the biopic beats you’d expect when chronicling a musician who has since passed away.

Director will be Marc Abraham adapted the screenplay as well by him while the cast includes Maddie Hasson, Cherry Jones, David Krumholtz, Josh Pais, Bradley Whitford and more in addition to Hiddleston and Olsen. The highly regarded Dante Spinotti did the cinematography so you can see how this might have seemed like a slam dunk contender at least before it began screening that is.

Reviews ever since the Toronto Film Festival last year have been kind to Hiddleston and especially Olsen as much as ‘I Saw the Light’ is being dismissed. The thing here is there are so many other biopics coming this year that it’s almost a sure thing that we’ll see this one get pushed to the side or forgotten about entirely. That’s the danger in being a flick that traffics in something audiences and voters get so consistently and you’re pretty much dismissed if you don’t hit a sweet spot of critical and financial acclaim. So many top notch ones fall short already when you’re not quite up to snuff and it is almost an impossible proposition you’re making to the Academy.

It is sure we’ll see it get a push for Oscar attention in the fall if things somehow turn around for this one. This might all be pipe dreams but there is at least a chance that Hiddleston or more likely Olsen remains in the conversation once the precursors begin.

This weekend will be the first test of if this one will be a player at all or no overall and that might get it into a spot where it can return to contention and be worth a look from voters later on in 2016 if it can hit with audiences where it hasn’t with critics so far. There is at least a chance on that happening and you should make up your own mind and give it a shot if you’re a fan of Williams’ music or Hiddleston/Olsen for now.