Up till now, talented Brit Tom Hiddleston has been known for his mischief-making turn as the trickster god Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is quite a departure from the down-home world of Hank Williams, the hard-living, hard-playing Country rebel icon and loverman who died before his time. Hiddleston sings with an eerily spot-on approximation of that familiar Williams twang that just breaks your cheating heart as it charms the pants off you. It is funny to think that his Williams is not all that different than Loki, from a performative standpoint. In the end, Hiddleston manipulates us like a pro. It is too bad though that I Saw the Light foregoes spending any real time with the music and the musicians, instead turning its gaze on the pedestrian details of the marital drama between the great man and his wife Audrey (Elizabeth Olsen). Olsen continues to prove to be a firecracker — a livewire here in that she has to convince us that she can’t sing well enough to stand alongside her husband and the band. But I’m tired of the same old tune, the tortured musical genius who is a victim of excess. I want to see the light shining on the birth of the music. (Opens Friday at Mariemont Theatre) (R) Grade: D+
This article appears in Mar 23-30, 2016.