‘Coyote Ugly’ Turns Women Into Commodity and Calls It Empowerment

“Coyote Ugly” wants to be a story about a young woman chasing her dreams in New York City. It ends up being a story about a young woman getting paid to pour water over herself. Piper Perabo plays Violet Sanford, a singer-songwriter who moves to Manhattan hoping to make it in the music business. Instead she lands a job at Coyote Ugly, a bar where the waitresses dance on the counter and auction off male customers to raise tips. The movie is a comedy-drama, but it spends most of its time in the drama lane, and the comedy is thin enough to drown in the beer.

David McNally directs from a script by Gina Wendkos, with additional material credited to Kevin Smith. The film is based on Elizabeth Gilbert’s essay “The Muse of the Coyote Ugly Saloon.” It was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Chad Oman, and it stars Piper Perabo, Maria Bello, Bridget Moynahan, Tyra Banks, Izabella Miko, John Goodman, Adam Garcia, LeAnn Rimes and a host of smaller roles. The film grossed $113 million worldwide, which made it a box-office hit despite mostly negative reviews. It remains a cult classic, which is a strange distinction for a movie that treats its female leads as objects of male fantasy.

Trailer, via ReallyDontCare.

Violet’s Dream and the Bar

Violet leaves her hometown of South Amboy, New Jersey, to chase her dream of songwriting. She fails repeatedly to get her demo tape noticed by recording studios. She tries to impress a music industry scout, only to learn from a bartender that Kevin O’Donnell is not the bar manager. Violet is hurt by the joke, and the film establishes early that her ambitions are a problem — she wants to be a songwriter, but the movie seems more interested in her body than her songs.

When her apartment is burglarized, she sees three girls at an all-night diner flaunting hundreds of dollars. They work at Coyote Ugly, and Violet decides to audition. The bar owner Lil offers her a job if she can make up $250 in one night, a fine Lil incurred after Violet doused the fire marshal in water during a second audition. Violet auctions Kevin off to a bidding customer, and he tells her she owes him. Violet agrees to four dates as payment, and the two begin a relationship.

The Auction and the Dates

The auction scene is the film’s central gimmick. Violet sells Kevin to a woman at the bar to earn the money she owes. This sets up a debt that drives the plot forward, but it also turns Violet into a commodity for the audience to watch. The film’s tagline, “Tonight, they’re calling the shots,” is a promise the movie never quite delivers — the women are called to do the bidding, not the shooting.

Kevin helps Violet overcome her stage fright, which she inherited from her deceased mother, who also moved to New York to pursue singing. That backstory is meant to ground Violet in something noble, but the film spends more time on her dancing on the bar than on her musical aspirations.

The Father’s Grief

Bill, Violet’s father, sees a photo of her in the newspaper and investigates, finding her dancing on the bar with other bartenders pouring pitchers of water over her. He refuses to talk to her when she calls him shortly after. The film uses this moment to establish tension between Violet’s new life and her old one, but the conflict is shallow. Bill is a minor figure, and his refusal to speak to her is treated as a plot device rather than a character moment.

Lil’s Rules and the Bookie

Tensions grow when Lil refuses to let Violet leave for a singing gig Kevin arranged, costing Kevin a rare collectible to a bookie. Kevin confronts the situation, but the film never resolves it satisfactorily. The movie is more interested in Violet’s physical performance than in her creative ones, and the singing gig is a missed opportunity to explore her craft.

The Performances

Piper Perabo carries the film. Her debut performance is competent, but she is asked to do emotional labor the script does not support. Maria Bello, Bridget Moynahan, Tyra Banks and Izabella Miko play the other Coyote Ugly girls, and their scenes are mostly about their bodies and their reactions to male attention. The film is a showcase for its ensemble, but it never gives the actresses room to do anything beyond smile and pour.

LeAnn Rimes appears as herself, performing her own music. The Calling and Unwritten Law cameo as performers at the Bowery Ballroom, and Chalk Farm plays as the backing band for Violet’s performance. These cameos add texture, but they also highlight how much the film leans on established acts to do the musical work it refuses to do for its own protagonist.

The Cult Classic Question

The film’s reputation as a cult classic is strange. It is not a great movie, but it has a devoted following. Part of that appeal comes from the novelty of seeing women in control of a bar — the Coyote Ugly dancers are the bosses, and the men are the ones being sold. But the film’s treatment of its female characters is regressive. Violet is rewarded for her willingness to perform for male pleasure, and the film never questions whether that is a fair trade.

The movie is a product of its era, and it shows. It is a film about women working in a bar that treats their labor as a spectacle, and it is a film about a young woman pursuing a career that is ultimately secondary to her physical presence. It is a film that was a hit and a film that deserved to fail.

What Works and What Doesn’t

Here is a quick ranking of the elements that work and those that don’t:

1. Piper Perabo’s performance — the strongest element, even if the script lets her down.
2. The energy of the bar scenes — the dancing and the auctions have a raw appeal.
3. LeAnn Rimes’ cameo — a genuine musical highlight.
4. The film’s grosses — $113 million is nothing to scoff at.
5. The script — the weakest element, with a story that never commits to Violet’s dreams.
6. The treatment of female characters — the film’s biggest failure.

“Coyote Ugly” is a flawed film with a few bright spots. Its ambition is admirable, but its execution is weak. The movie is a relic of a time when women in bars were treated as entertainment, and it does not escape that legacy. It is a film that is better remembered than it deserves to be.

90s Cinema · Coyote Ugly · cult classic · movie review · Piper Perabo