Here's a movie that wants to be seen as trashy and salacious and at least somewhat distinctive, but the problem is that those ambitions are constantly undercut by a mind-numbingly unoriginal story. "Young woman moves to the big city in hopes of 'making it', only to realize that achieving her dream is much more difficult than she ever thought possible" is already a trite premise, but then you tack on the disapproving parent, the bland and needlessly complicated romance, and the hellish-turned-homey work setting, and you start to feel like you can connect the dots yourself.
Still, it does contain a few of my guilty pleasures. The editing's pretty lively, as is the soundtrack (you can try to resist it, but you know [but you know] that "Can't Fight the Moonlight" kicks ass), and I'm a total sucker for Y2K-era fashion and culture, which this movie's got in spades. It's also really sincere and optimistic in a way that speaks to me, possibly because it seems so emblematic of the times. I'm not at all surprised to learn that Coyote Ugly has become a cult film, especially considering how upbeat it is. As close as I am to getting there, though, the formula's simply too stale for me to completely agree.
Grade: B-
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