2000’s Hottest Movie Is A Cult Classic In Need Of A Wild Sequel Today

By Jonathan Klotz
| Published 5 seconds ago

In the year 2000, you weren’t able to get away from Coyote Ugly. You could try. Staying far, far away from every bar and nightclub was a good start. You’d be minding your own business at Applebee’s, and someone would climb on the bar to start dancing between your margarita and chicken tenders.

Bar dancing became so popular that it ended up overshadowing the film itself. Today, when you stream Coyote Ugly for free on Tubi, you’ll be amazed at how Hollywood used to make PG-13 movies, and the impressive cast you forgot was in the film. 

The Devil Went Down To Coyote Ugly

For starters, Coyote Ugly was Piper Perabo’s breakthrough as Violet, the aspiring songwriter who sees women spending hundreds of dollars one night and learns they work at the bar, Coyote Ugly. The bar’s owner Lil, is played by Maria Bello, and the Coyotes include Cammie (Izabella Miko, name a procedural, she’s guest-starred), Zoe (Tyra Banks), and Rachel (Bridget Moynahan), as the coolest bartenders in New York City.

Once Piper warms up and starts getting out of her shell, she’s right there with the rest of them, dancing on the bar, flirting with patrons, and stopping a barfight by singing. That last one is a little absurd, but it’s also so strange; if you saw someone start singing Blondie out of nowhere, you’d stop for a second and wonder what was wrong with her. 

Wish fulfillment comes in different forms; it’s not all about storming the castle. Coyote Ugly hits every single trope of a small-town girl dreaming of becoming a big star. Right down to the overprotective father, Bill (John Goodman), and best friend who took the traditional path, and everything seems to be working out for her, here it’s Gloria, played by Yellowjackets’ and The Last Of Us star Melanie Lynskey.

If you were to guess that Violet ends up finding success as a songwriter and everyone lives happily ever after, you’re right. Coyote Ugly is straightforward, fun, and low stakes. It’s the perfect type of movie to shut your brain off and simply enjoy. 

Your Social Media Feed Is More Scandalous

Coyote Ugly ended up becoming a massive hit, not in theaters, though, unadjusted for inflation, it did earn almost four times the amount Borderlands did, $133 million compared to $31 million. The movie became a smash hit on DVD, for well, the obvious reasons.

Before social media, before YouTube, the DVD of Coyote Ugly was an easy way to see gorgeous women dancing, except it’s PG-13, and the dancing is country line dancing. You can catch more scandalous dancing on a random episode of Bar Rescue. It was 2000; it was a different time. 

If any film could have fun with a legacy sequel, it’s Coyote Ugly, and the cast themselves think so, too. Tyra Banks has tried to get a sequel into production, and Piper Perabo has talked about it, even though there’s already a sequel, sort of. The film is based on the real-life memoir of Elizabeth Gilbert, The Muse of the Coyote Ugly Saloon, about her time working in the real Coyote Ugly, before she wrote about a life-changing trip you may have heard of. That’s right, Eat, Pray, Love is technically a sequel to Coyote Ugly.

Today, you can still go to Coyote Ugly bars around the country, from New Orleans to Daytona Beach, and while your results will not be the same as Violet’s from the movie, you can at least say you went to one. Or you can stream Coyote Ugly for free on Tubi and see what was boundary pushing at the turn of the century, as the hottest PG-13 movie of the time would be considered tame today on Instagram.