I Saw the Light
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: March 25, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
47
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
24
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Boston GlobePeter KeoughMar 31, 2016
Tom Hiddleston puts in a performance as Williams that ranks with that of Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash in “I Walk the Line.” And Hiddleston gets to do it in a better movie. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanApr 4, 2016
The British actor, best known as Loki in the “Thor” and “Avengers” series, disappears into the character’s skinny body and twangy voice. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesPaul de BarrosMar 31, 2016
If you don’t already care about Hank Williams, this movie isn’t likely to change that. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMar 31, 2016
Even when I Saw the Light is giving us standard-issue concert scenes or simple interior sequences such as young Hank and his band playing live on the radio, the saturated colors and the subtle camera moves make every scene pop. Read full review
75
ObserverRex ReedMar 25, 2016
It’s in the music that I Saw the Light best demonstrates how a tormented man named Hank Williams revolutionized the essence of country songs into a joy embraced by millions. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerApr 7, 2016
Perhaps a better name for Marc Abraham’s well-crafted biopic would be His Cheatin’ Heart, for this motion picture concentrates on the marital distress between a philandering Williams and his flat-singing wife (played with vibrancy by Elizabeth Olsen). Read full review
60
Time Out LondonTom HuddlestonMay 3, 2016
Perhaps inevitably, the film as a whole doesn't stack up to its central performances. Read full review
60
EmpireChris Hewitt (1)Apr 18, 2016
Hiddleston and Olsen impress, and the music remains golden, but this is just another by-the-numbers biopic. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranMar 24, 2016
I Saw the Light is solid but not spectacular, a retelling of a sad story that never catches fire. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerSep 11, 2015
It’s unfortunate that Light feels both too traditional and too concerned with showcasing life behind the music, instead of trying to explain why Williams was one of the greatest American musicians of the last century. Read full review
58
The Film StageJared MobarakMar 24, 2016
The extended musical performances showcase Hiddleston’s chops, but the script can’t provide enough assistance for us to care. He embodies Williams and the singer/songwriter’s story is up on screen, but I can’t say I remained interested beyond his transformation. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldConnie OgleApr 7, 2016
I Saw the Light, though, doesn’t live up to Hiddleston’s efforts; it’s shallow and disjointed, handicapped by a weak, cliche-sodden script. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaApr 1, 2016
The feeblest kind of costume drama, where the costumes have more impact than the drama and where the period details serve only as distraction, reminding audiences that things looked different back then and not much else. Read full review
50
ConsequenceSarah KurchakMar 31, 2016
It should be impossible to turn this kind of raw material into such an interminable slog, and yet somehow writer and director Marc Abraham...managed to do just that. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMar 31, 2016
Surely, there’s the potential here for a kind of Country and Western “Amadeus.” Instead we get I Saw the Light, which will do until something better comes along. Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonMar 31, 2016
If you’re interested in Williams and his music, this film is better than nothing — but not by much. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMar 31, 2016
Hiddleston, his eyes full of fire and melancholy longing, was an inspired choice. Everything not-quite-right with most movies, however, goes wrong long before the actors arrive on set. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenMar 30, 2016
British actor Hiddleston transcendently captures the sound of Williams’ voice and his performative swagger, and it’s something that’s worth seeing for its amazing conjuring act. Read full review
50
TheWrapTricia OlszewskiMar 30, 2016
Hiddleston, who does his own singing, doesn’t get to show off his chops very often. But when he does, the film comes alive, particularly when Williams finally makes it to the Opry. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyMar 25, 2016
The particularly outstanding cinematography is by Dante Spinotti, the craftsman who also shot the likes of “Heat” and “L.A. Confidential.” Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreMar 24, 2016
Hiddleston can’t pull off the folksiness that was Williams’ public persona. Read full review
50
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganSep 12, 2015
Hiddleston’s intense performance lends a little frisson to an otherwise familiar, if gorgeously-mounted tale about a troubled musical genius who is inevitably, gruellingly, felled by his demons. Read full review
50
The PlaylistNoel MurraySep 11, 2015
Abraham the writer lets down Abraham the director, and ultimately lets down his stars and Spinotti, too. Read full review
42
HitfixGregory EllwoodSep 12, 2015
Despite the worthy efforts of stars Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen, the Hank Williams biopic I Saw The Light is a shockingly bad movie. Read full review
40
Total FilmPaul BradshawMay 4, 2016
When Abraham leaves the camera on Hiddleston and Olsen long enough to let them chew on their characters, the film offers flashes of something much more interesting: a handful of domestic scenes prove that the actors, not to mention Hank, would’ve been much better served by a ballsier script and braver direction. Read full review
40
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottMar 31, 2016
It is powerful, it is affecting and it -- that is, Hiddleston's eerily accurate performance, from start to finish -- is easily the best thing about director Marc Abraham's Shreveport-shot biopic of the country music legend. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMar 31, 2016
The problem is the movie itself – the script, the editing, the construction, all of which combine to make the whole thing feel flat, lifeless and confusing. Read full review
40
The New York TimesManohla DargisMar 24, 2016
Part of what defeats Mr. Abraham and may help explain why Mr. Hiddleston’s performance, however appealing, never gets below the surface, is that Williams is one of those artists whose eloquence is expressed through his work. Read full review
40
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlMar 22, 2016
I Saw the Light ignores Williams's composing, denies us his voice, and is too spooked by sentimentality to show us just what his music touches off in people. Read full review
40
VarietyAndrew BarkerSep 12, 2015
Despite a thoroughly committed, impressive performance from Tom Hiddleston as Williams (and an even better one from Elizabeth Olsen as his first wife, Audrey), the film tackles the life of one of the 20th century’s most seminal musicians with all the passion of a stenographer, making for a dull, unfocused slog through what should have been an effortlessly cinematic story. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle SmithMar 24, 2016
I Saw the Light is as vital as a two-hour shrug. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineCarson LundMar 22, 2016
A flaccidly directed film that basks for two hours in a carefully art-designed simulation of the past. Read full review
37
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanMar 31, 2016
I Saw the Light isn’t just incohesive, but ultimately — and far more frustratingly — incoherent. Read full review
25
Rolling StonePeter TraversMar 24, 2016
Hiddleston is not what's wrong with this movie. But damn near everything else is. Read full review
25
IndieWireKate ErblandMar 23, 2016
I Saw the Light doesn't just fail to illuminate Williams' complicated life and his prodigious talent; it can't even capture the dark corners of a man with more than enough to peer into. Read full review
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