Bruce Von Stiers

I never got a chance to see Coyote Ugly when it was in the theaters. I wanted to but just never had the time. Same thing when it came out on video. I finally got around to watching it the other day. It was a movie that had some great tunes and a storyline that wasn’t too bad.

I mainly wanted to watch the film because it had Maria Bella in it. I first got a glimpse of her when she was in the Mr. and Mrs. Smith television series. It didn’t last a season, but Bella made an impression on me. I also got to see her in ER for a short while before they wrote her character out. But in this film she only plays a minor role as Lil, the owner of the Coyote Ugly bar.

This film is about Violet Stanford (Piper Perabo), an apiring songwriter from South Amboy, New Jersey. She is going down the road to New York City to make her mark as a songwriter. Only she doesn’t get very far.

She meets Kevin O’Donnell (Adam Garcia) and they begin an awkward relationship. Violet also sees some girls in a restaurant who have made a lot of money. These girls work in a bar called the Coyote Ugly. Violet goes to the bar and gets an audition for the job as a “coyote. These girls are bartenders who are hot and sexy. They flirt with the customers, dance on the bar and have a wild time. Violet ends up getting a job as a Coyote.

Soon things get really complicated. Kevin keeps pushing her to move forward with her career. Her father Bill (John Goodman) is embarrassed that she is working in a place that is one step above a strip bar. And one of her co-workers, Rachael (Bridget Moynahan) is always openly hostile.

Izabella Miko has a minor role as a Coyote and so does Tyra Banks. She is one of the Coyotes who quits to go to law school. Leann Rimes has a cameo role at the end of the film, playing herself.

I never had the opportunity to go to a bar like the Coyote Ugly. I’ve hung out a few places that could have come close, but not one where dancing on the bar was a norm for the lady bartenders. I remember one club that I used to go to where the bartender wore painted on jeans and danced on the bar occasionally, but that is another story for another time. Anyway, I doubt that there have been too many clubs out there that like the Coyote, at least in smaller towns than New York. Although, after the movie came out I heard that some clubs tried to imitate the atmosphere at the Coyote Ugly.

Coyote Ugly is a combination of love story and dreams not realized. Violet lets things and people stand in her way of being a songwriter. Her romance with Kevin is doomed from the start and can she ever getting over being Daddy’s little girl? She loves to hate her job as a Coyote. But why can’t she just walk away from it?

Coyote Ugly has great music, hot looking women and a heartache storyline. All of the elements that make up a great movie for the 14 to 2o something guys out there. The older guys, like myself, will probably watch it because of Maria Bella. Or maybe not. The ladies will probably want to watch it because of Adam Garcia, the music and the storyline. But mostly to watch Adam.