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R: ARCHIVE, S: MOVIES, D: 01/18/1901,

Coyote Ugly

(Buena Vista)

The title joint is a real bar in Manhattan where the tough-but-sexy bartenders gyrate on the bar, outdrink the customers, and dress like extras from Showgirls in shitkickers. David McNally's movie has spunky, slender nymphets pouring cold water on one another and clog-dancing to "Devil Went Down to Georgia." It's a romantic comedy/coming-of-age/local-girl-makes-good kinda movie, with ingenue Violet Sanford (Piper Perabo) leaving New Joisey pizza slinging behind to write songs in the Big Apple. Violet starts out a naive-but-gutsy songwriter in the Tori-Shawn-Sarah mold, but the whole thing turns into a Britney Spears video that is painful to see and hear. Despite efforts by script doctors like Carrie Fisher and Kevin Smith (Clerks/Chasing Amy), a soundtrack by Yes/Buggles frontman Trevor Horn, and appealing performances from Melanie Lynskey (Heavenly Creatures) and yummy Aussie Adam Garcia, this film suffers from a glut of feel-good clichés and stock funky-Manhattan-at-dusk footage. A shot or two of Jack or Johnny beforehand might help.