Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Aspiring songwriter Violet Sanford (Piper Perabo) moves to New York to pursue her dreams. Desperate and broke, the shy and innocent Violet is hired as a barmaid in one of the hottest nightclubs in the city—Coyote Ugly. The small-town girl is in for a wild adventure as she chases her dream in the Big Apple.

Jerry Bruckheimer has a formula for success. Find a feel-good script, hire an ensemble cast of good-looking actors, and round out the production with a killer soundtrack. This formula won't land you a Best Picture Oscar, but it will make you one of the most powerful producers in Hollywood! Coyote Ugly doesn't rank up there with the wildly successful Bruckheimer films dealing with pirates or hidden treasure, but it is certainly entertaining.

The movie is presented with a high-bitrate AVC encode in the theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1, and it's another solid effort from Disney. The color palette is rich and bold, with the primary colors really coming to life. Black levels are deep with above-average shadow detail, even in the most challenging scenes, and the fine detail is well resolved throughout with only the occasional scene looking a tad soft.

Given Bruckheimer's passion for stellar soundtracks, I was really looking forward to the 5.1-channel PCM mix. It isn't overly aggressive in the explosion department, but that doesn't mean a "normal" soundtrack can't sound great. Dialog is clearly presented and firmly rooted in the center speaker, with the surround channels employed for ambience. But the star of the show is the musical score featuring The Charlie Daniels Band, EMF, Don Henley, LeAnn Rimes, and many more. The nearly reference-quality lossless mix delivers in spades.

Ported from the DVD release, the bonus features offer a decent assortment of material. Audio commentaries include one with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director David McNally and another with the "Coyotes," both available for the theatrical and extended versions of the film included on the disc. Next up are five deleted scenes that didn't make the cut (thankfully), a music video from LeAnne Rimes ("Can't Fight The Moonlight"), and the theatrical trailer. Rounding out the assortment are six featurettes focusing on the production details. Sadly, these features are all presented in standard definition.

Bruckheimer certainly knows how to entertain, and Coyote Ugly is no exception to his proven formula. The story is uplifting, the cast is good-looking, and the soundtrack is worth the price of admission.

Release Date: April 1, 2008

Film: 8.0 out of 10
Picture: 9.0 out of 10
Sound: 9.0 out of 10

Review System

Source
Sony PlayStation 3

Display
JVC DLA-RS1 projector
Stewart FireHawk screen (76.5" wide, 16:9)

Electronics
Onkyo Pro PR-SC885 pre/pro
Anthem PVA-7 power amplifier
Belkin PF60 power conditioner

Speakers
M&K S-150s (L, C, R)
M&K SS-150s (LS, RS, SBL, SBR)
SVS PC-Ultra subwoofer

Cables
Monoprice HDMI cables (source to pre/pro)
Best Deal analog-audio cables
PureLink HDC Fiber Optic HDMI Cable System (15 meters) from pre/pro to projector