On paper, a biopic on legendary country singer Hank Williams starring Tom Hiddleston would be a sure-fire awards season contender. In fact, that was the expectation from the moment I Saw the Light was announced more than a year ago. And then the film started playing at festivals and that talk began to fade. Perhaps noticing the diminishing buzz, the studio bumped the drama out of the Oscar race completely and into the early part of 2016, not exactly fertile ground for top-flight features. But does that mean the movie is really bad? Or just not quite up to the expectations heaped upon it?
A new, full-length trailer for the film has been released and it focuses squarely on its strengths, Hiddleston and co-star Elizabeth Olsen. Directed by Marc Abraham, the story centers on Williams' meteoric rise to the top of the country western charts, and the terrible toll it took on his health and family life that led to his untimely death at the age of 29.
I Saw the Light now opens on March 25th, when it will be clobbered by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
