Coyote Ugly *** (2000, Piper Perabo, John Goodman, Adam Garcia, Maria Bello, Izabella Miko, Melanie Lynskey, Bridget Moynahan, Tyra Banks, LeAnn Rimes, Bud Cort) – Classic Movie Review 13,969

Piper Perabo, John Goodman, Adam Garcia and Maria Bello star in the tacky and zesty 2000 American comedy-drama film Coyote Ugly. set in the New York City saloon whose bartenders dance on the bar.

Director David McNally’s 2000 American comedy-drama film Coyote Ugly comes from producer Jerry Buckheimer, is written by Gina Wendkos, and stars Piper Perabo, John Goodman, Adam Garcia, Maria Bello, Izabella Miko, Melanie Lynskey, Bridget Moynahan, and Tyra Banks. It is set in the Coyote Ugly Saloon drinking establishment in New York City’s East Village, where the bartenders dance on the bar. It is based on The Muse of the Coyote Ugly Saloon by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Piper Perabo stars as aspiring songwriter Violet Sanford, a shy small-town girl who leaves her rural home and her dad Bill (John Goodman), and heads for New York, where she takes a job in a trendy, sexy bar and soon falls for hunky Australian man Kevin O’Donnell (Adam Garcia). Maria Bello plays Lil, the proprietor of Coyote Ugly, and Melanie Lynskey plays Gloria, Violet’s best friend from Jersey.

This trashy romantic comedy-drama is clichéd and often silly, but it is still zestful, nicely played by a nice, appealing cast, and a lot of fun, with some catchy music.

It had a high budget of $45 million, but ended up grossing $113 million worldwide.

This tacky item has Disney money in it, co-produced by Touchstone Pictures, and was released by Disney’s Buena Vista Pictures Distribution.

Release date: August 4, 2000 (US).

Running time:101 minutes.

Kevin Smith, who did an uncredited rewrite of the script, said eight writers worked on the script, but the Writers Guild of America gave credit only to Gina Wendkos, who wrote the first draft, which Smith said scarcely resembles that of the film. Jeff Nathanson and Carrie Fisher wrote drafts.

Elizabeth Gilbert’s 1997 GQ article The Muse of the Coyote Ugly Saloon is a memoir of her time as a bartender at the first Coyote Ugly table dancing bar in the East Village of New York City. Her 2006 memoir Eat, Pray, Love has sold more than 12 million copies and was also made into the 2010 film Eat, Pray, Love.

Cast: Piper Perabo, John Goodman, Adam Garcia, Maria Bello, Izabella Miko, Melanie Lynskey, Bridget Moynahan, Tyra Banks, Del Pentecost, Michael Weston, LeAnn Rimes, Bud Cort, Ellen Cleghorne, John Fugelsang.

© Derek Winnert 2026 – Classic Movie Review 13,969

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com