I love the Kenny Rogers song "Coward of the County." Not only is it a great song, it has a terrific story, the tale of a young man named Tommy who promises his dying father that he won't fight, so he ends up getting the cruel nickname "coward of the county." But then three bullies attack his girlfriend and he snaps, avenging her in a barroom by taking down all three men. The moral is that sometimes you have to fight to be a man. A great message, and dramatic stuff, perfect for a retelling on film.
So how did the filmmakers absolutely blow this one? By lessening nearly every dramatic part of the song, or else completely eliminating them. There's no dramatic relationship between dad and son; in fact, the father isn't even in the movie. So there's no scene where Tommy takes down his father's picture before going after the men.
The rape scene is of course sanitized, which you would expect for a TV movie. But the part of the song where Tommy opens the door and finds his girl crying? Could have been some serious drama there, but no, they cut that scene completely from the movie. Why?
And the heroic conclusion, where Tommy supposedly takes down the men one by one? It turns out to be Tommy and Kenny Rogers teaming up to win the fight instead! Rogers' character shouldn't have even been in the scene, but heck, he wrote the song and gets starring credit, so maybe he had some pull in getting it changed. But for sure, it wasn't as dramatic as it was described in the song.
In fact, there's more drama and emotion in the 4-minute song than in the entire 90-minute movie. It's a perfect song made into a mediocre movie. Very disappointing.
So how did the filmmakers absolutely blow this one? By lessening nearly every dramatic part of the song, or else completely eliminating them. There's no dramatic relationship between dad and son; in fact, the father isn't even in the movie. So there's no scene where Tommy takes down his father's picture before going after the men.
The rape scene is of course sanitized, which you would expect for a TV movie. But the part of the song where Tommy opens the door and finds his girl crying? Could have been some serious drama there, but no, they cut that scene completely from the movie. Why?
And the heroic conclusion, where Tommy supposedly takes down the men one by one? It turns out to be Tommy and Kenny Rogers teaming up to win the fight instead! Rogers' character shouldn't have even been in the scene, but heck, he wrote the song and gets starring credit, so maybe he had some pull in getting it changed. But for sure, it wasn't as dramatic as it was described in the song.
In fact, there's more drama and emotion in the 4-minute song than in the entire 90-minute movie. It's a perfect song made into a mediocre movie. Very disappointing.