It all boils down to a 12-certificate teenage magazine romance set in what amounts to a nudie bar where there's no actual nudity. Both the men in the heroine's life seriously question whether writhing suggestively for drunken lechers is an empowering activity for an independent girl but since that's more or less the film's strongest visual effect the script has to come down on the side of the girls--if not the customers. The supporting babes--Russian blonde Cammie (Izabella Miko), ferocious brunette Rachel (Bridget Moynahan) and upwardly-mobile Zoe (Tyra Banks)--gyrate and model Spice Girls cast-off gear, but make less of an impression than Melanie Lynskey (the "other one" from Heavenly Creatures) as the devoted, slightly dumpy best friend back home. Like most Jerry Bruckheimer products, it's slickly put-together, at once exciting and predictable, cut like a commercial or a pop promo, directed by a non-entity (David McNally), fantastical yet blue-collar "real" and self-destructs in the mind after viewing. --Kim Newman
On the DVD: The disc is jammed with special features and bonus material: "Search for the Stars" outlines the quest to find the young cast members; "Inside the Song" offers an analysis of the tunes, a voiceover by LeAnn Rimes and the thoughts of songwriter Diana Warren; "Coyote 101"describes the ins and outs of the bar itself, from the drink mixes to the dancers; while "Action Overload" simply shows full-force action sequences from the film. The disc also contains four deleted scenes, the LeAnn Rimes music video, "Can't fight the Moonlight", the theatrical trailer and an energetic commentary by the Coyotes themselves, Tara Banks, Maria Bello, Izabella Miko, Bridget Moynahan and Piper Perbo. Although the disc certainly doesn't scrimp on the special features front, each one tends to be fairly short and uninformative, lacking detail. The DVD itself gives the visual and audio excellence you would expect from a recent Hollywood blockbuster with a 5.1 audio ratio and crisp widescreen format of 2.35:1. --Nikki Disney

From the Back Cover
From hit-making producer Jerry Bruckheimer (Armageddon, Pearl Harbour) comes COYOTE UGLY, the intoxicating romatic comedy starring an unbeatable cast of hot, new stars including Piper Perabo (Rocky and Bulwinkle) , Maria Bello (Payback) and Adam Garcia. Moving to New York to pursue her dream of becoming a famous songwriter, Violet Sanford (Perabo) finds herself desperate and broke. Through a twist of fate, the shy, innocent Violet lands a job as one of the barmaids at the hottest nightclub in town - the down and dirty, wild and fun Coyote Ugly. Pouring drinks and overflowing with attitude, the "Coyotes" spend more time on top of the bar than behind it, tantalising the standing-room-only crowd with their outrageous antics. It's one wild adventure fora small town girl chasing a dream in the big city.