Karry
Best movie of this year hands down!
Pluskylang
Great Film overall
Console
best movie i've ever seen.
evening1
This movie begins with one of the most joyous scenes I can remember in a film.Hank Williams had a golden voice but "the poor country boy" seems never to have recovered from missing out on childhood, growing up an orphan earning his bread by singing on the street. His wife Audrey, played convincingly by Susan Oliver, was always more a manager than a love partner. In a powerful performance by George Hamilton, Hank grows to hate her as his yearnings to be left alone and just veg -- i.e., drink -- take over. Scenes far from the concert hall, where Hank kicks back and sings for the common folk, reveal rare moments of contentment for him. The music in this movie is wonderful, each song seemingly better than the last, and concluding with the beautiful "I'm so Lonesome I Could Die." I never knew a thing about this tragic musician, whose heart gave out at only 29, so I'm very glad I saw this.
Angus T. Cat
This movie was a real surprise to me. I thought at first it would be a typical Hollywood biopic of a singer - boy starts off poor, is troubled when he hits the big time, starts messing up, picture ends tragically but celebrates his legend... much like a Mad magazine pastiche. "Your Cheatin Heart" seems to gloss over some of the events of Hank William's life. I didn't know all that much about him but I had that impression. Even so, this is a gripping picture. I was transfixed and I don't like country music. George Hamilton can act! He strongly expresses Williams' conflicts over his career and marriage. Susan Oliver is a revelation too. Why wasn't she offered more films? (I knew I saw her somewhere before: she was Vina in Star Trek's "The Cage".) The ending is tragic and the viewer can probably see it coming even if he or she doesn't know about Williams' early death. Still, the scene of the empty stage had me in tears. The film shows deep feeling for Williams' music and his fans. By far the best thing about Your Cheatin' Heart is Williams' songs, especially the rendition of "I'm so Lonesome I could Cry", which was what I was doing.
wdbhill
Hank Williams was a very complex individual. Like all of us, he struggled with good and evil.The movie depicted a very simple man thrust into stardom. The sound track was done by a 14 year old Hank Williams Jr. The movie would have been much better if the songs of Hank Williams were included.I think the movie could be done better today with better actors. The story line could more true to the actual life of Hank Williams. Back in the 40's and 50's the life of a country singer was rough and rowdy.When this picture was made, Audrey Williams (Hank's wife) dictated every move. Trying to make Hank a legend. It wasn't necessary, he already was a legend. The movie was also used to launch a young Hank Williams Jr into the national spot light. None of this was necessary. Hank Williams Jr. has become a legend in his own right in spite of his mother trying to make him another Hank Williams.At any rate, if you are interested in Hank Williams this is a very good movie and deserves your viewing.I hope to see another movie made about the life of Hank Williams.
jasonhank1953
While the movie itself has a good story and the performances are great; to me, George Hamilton really captured the essence of Hank Williams. The actual story of how Hank Williams became one of the greatest Country and Western stars of his day is decidedly lacking. I have read the book by Chet Fillipo that inspired this movie and it too seems to be as a gross misrepresentation of Hank Williams as this movie was. Though I admit that Hank had many problems in his life and his true story is a tragic one, this movie does not depict the actual Hank Williams. In fact, the only thing this movie really has in common with his life is that he wrote songs, he was from Alabama, he married a woman named Audry, and he died at a tragically young age. In truth Hank Williams didn't like hard liqour, he drank beer and the movie fails to show all the time that he actually spent on the wagon. It also portrays his relationship with his wife as one more like cat and mouse than hushband and wife. Interviews with those closest to them, including Audry's dauther Lucrecia, say that they rarely argued as horrificly as they did in the movie. The movie also glosses over the fact that Hank was on painkillers and that he and Audry divorced in 1952 and Hank married later that year to Billie Jean Eshellman. In my opinion, this movie bears all the markings of a movie that Joeseph Goebbels would have made about the life of Adolf Hitler, it shows all the good things in marked glorification and then chooses to omit all but the best known of the bad things. In other words, this movie was made by Miss Audry and she didn't want anyone to think bad of her Hank. But, then that too is a testament to the love they held for each other, to the ends of thier lives. And that is the only truth I saw in the movie, Hank and Audry's undying love for each other, just below the surface.
