Aspiring songwriter Violet Sanford, after getting a job at a women-run NYC bar that teases its male patrons, comes out of her shell.
Sexy, romantic comedy about a girl in her early 20s named Violet Sanford going to NYC to pursue a dream of becoming a songwriter. Violet gets a "day" job as a bar maid at a nightclub called Coyote Ugly. Coyote Ugly is the city's newest hot spot where the employees are a team of sexy, resourceful women that provoke the clientele and press with their mischief.—Anonymous
A sexy romantic comedy featuring a spectacular soundtrack, "Coyote Ugly" is the story of one girl's wild adventure in the big city. Graced with a velvet voice, 21-year-old Violet Sanford heads to New York to pursue her dream of becoming a songwriter, only to find her aspirations sidelined by the accolades and notoriety she receives at her "day" job as a bar maid at Coyote Ugly. A new nightclub with a twist, Coyote Ugly is the hottest spot in town, featuring a team of sexy, enterprising young women who tantalize customers and the media alike with their outrageous antics.—Gilbert lee
When young Violet finally follows her dream and moves to New York to become a songwriter, she knows little about the big city. All her efforts to get a demo tape to a producer are useless, additionally her apartment is broken in to, leaving her with nothing. But a coincidence leads her to Coyote Ugly, a night club where only beautiful women call the shots, using their female attraction to drive the guests just crazy. Violet manages to get a position and starts learning the ways of the city. After getting in trouble because of a misunderstanding, Violet's new friend Kevin tries to rid her of her stage fear so that she can perform her songs herself. Violet's father Bill does not like her new job as well as her leaving him, but it's all part of growing up.—Julian Reischl <[email protected]>
Violet is a waitress at a pizza place in small town South Amboy.Violet Sanford (Piper Perabo) leaves her hometown of South Amboy, New Jersey, her father Bill (John Goodman), and her best friend Gloria (Melanie Lynskey), to pursue her dreams of becoming a songwriter in nearby New York City (which is 42 miles away). The town has seen many young women leave for the city, to pursue their dreams. Bill is afraid for Violet's safety in big city New York, where he reads in the papers that people get killed for no reason at all. Violet promises to come home every Sunday.Bill is afraid that Violet would be hurt just as her mother was, when she did not make it in show business.Gloria is in a relationship with Danny (Michael Weston) and hopes to marry him.
Violet moves into a low rent apartment in the seedy part of town.Violet tries multiple times to get her demo tape noticed by the recording studios but is unsuccessful. The record studios don't take a tape unless it comes from an agent, and she can't get an agent until she is published. Everybody in New York has their own dreams shattered and are not interested in helping Violet make her dreams come true.One night, she tries to get herself noticed by a music industry scout at the Fiji Mermaid club. The bartender (who has been a sax player for 12 years without getting a break) jokingly points out Kevin O'Donnell (Adam Garcia), making her believe that he is the manager of the club. When she discovers the joke that Kevin was a cook at the bar, Violet feels hurt because she thinks Kevin was trying to make her look foolish.
Violet continues to visit music studios where a receptionist tells her that the only way to get her songs heard is at Karaoke open mic night, just like everybody else. Violet attends open mic night at a local bar and gets a spot but freezes on stage and is booed off.With only a few dollars left in her pocket after her apartment is burglarized, she goes to an all-night diner and notices three girls, Cammie (Izabella Miko), Rachel (Bridget Moynahan), and Zoe (Tyra Banks), flaunting the hundreds of dollars in tips they earned (Rachel mentions that they each made $300 in tips). After inquiring, she finds out that they work at a trendy bar named Coyote Ugly. Zoe is leaving for law school and the girls have an open spot on their team.
Violet finds her way to the bar and convinces the bar owner Lil (Maria Bello) to give her an audition. Violet's first audition does not go well. She sees that coyotes basically get on the bar counter and perform provocative dances to entertain the customers. Violet is bad at mixing drinks and chatting up customers. She doesn't even drink booze when the customers offer. Lil tells her to bottom up. But Violet refuses to get on the bar counter and dance for the customers.After Violet breaks up a fight between two customers, Lil gives her a second audition.
Lil sends Violet with Cammie to buy a whole new wardrobe for her. Cammie also teaches Violet to not swallow the drinks but to spit them out in the beer bottle. At her second audition, Violet douses the fire warden in water which costs Lil $250.However, Lil decides she can work at the bar if she can make up $250 in one night. Kevin turns up at the bar and Violet auctions him off to another woman at the bar to earn the money. Kevin tells Violet that she owes him, so Violet agrees to go on four dates with him. The two begin a relationship.Lil has only 2 rules, never date a customer and never bring the boyfriend into the bar on work-night.
Kevin commits himself to help Violet overcome her stage fright, which she is informed she will have to do to have her songs heard. Violet tells Kevin she inherited her stage fright from her now-deceased mother, who also moved to New York in her youth to pursue her dreams of singing. Violet's stage fright mostly extends to singing her original pieces as she can sing in the bar doing karaoke to help Cammie and Rachel break up a fight between customers.
One night, her father Bill comes to see her at work after a photo of her on the bar appears in the paper. When he arrives, she is dancing on the bar counter with the other bartenders pouring pitchers of water over her. He is angry about her job and refuses to talk to her when she calls him shortly after. She keeps the job despite her father's wishes, but shortly thereafter gets fired when Kevin gets into a fight at the bar. She and Kevin then break up.
With her dreams not working and her job at the bar lost, Violet goes to New Jersey for Gloria's wedding. That night, Bill gets hit by a car and is seriously injured which almost prompts Violet to move back to South Amboy. However, Bill convinces her not to give up while telling her the truth: her mother did not have a problem with stage fright and quit singing because of Bill.
Back in New York, Lil visits Violet at a restaurant where she is now working and the two make amends. Violet finishes a new song and later performs it at an open mic night at the Bowery Ballroom. After a difficult start, she gets help from Kevin and can sing. The Coyotes, Bill, and Gloria are also there for moral support. The performance leads to a deal with a record label.
3 months later at Coyote Ugly, LeAnn Rimes had recorded Violet's song and sings the song on the bar as Violet joins in. After procuring for Kevin a copy of The Amazing Spider-Man #129 which The Punisher debuted in and allowing Bill to win an auction, Violet kisses Kevin celebrating her dream coming true.
