Coyote Ugly

The latest paint-by-numbers cinematic mind-number from über-slick schlock producer Jerry Bruckheimer (Gone in 60 Seconds, Armageddon), Coyote Ugly can be summed up in three words: Flashdance meets Cocktail. Piper Perabo--a wide-eyed, bee-stung lipped beauty from central casting--is the movie's generic ingénue, a girl from small town New Jersey who moves to New York to pursue her dreams of being a songwriter, but winds up working in a wild bar staffed by young sexpots in leather pants and breast-hugging tank tops who habitually shake their stuff like pole-dancers to coax drinks into and cash out of horny customers. The movie plays like it was penned by a 13-year-old boy who just discovered his penis--up until the follow-your-dream stuff kicks in. Then it feels like it was taken over by a 13-year-old girl who thinks Britney Spears is the greatest musical talent the world has ever known. Not recommended. (R. Blackwelder)[Blu-ray Review—Apr. 15, 2008—Touchstone, 101 min., PG-13, $29.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2000's Coyote Ugly sports a nice 1080p transfer and fine uncompressed PCM 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks. The bonus features on the disc include both the theatrical and unrated extended versions of the film, audio commentaries (one by producer Jerry Bruckheimer, another by director David McNally, one with the “Coyotes” costars, and a combined audio commentary featuring all for the extended version), an 11-minute “Search for the Stars” cast featurette, five additional scenes (7 min.), a seven-minute “Coyote 101” training featurette (7 min.), a four-minute “Inside the Songs” segment, a brief “Action Overload” clip montage, and trailers. Bottom line: despite the sharp-looking Blu-ray image, there is still less here than meets the eye, whether you're talking about the lame narrative or the relatively skimpy extras package.]