Songcatcher

Pros: pretty scenery; interesting songs
Cons: musicians not really playing; contrived romances; underdeveloped characters

I used to have this girlfriend once. She never shaved her legs, and read authors I'd never heard of like Susan Faludi and Andrea Dworkin. She took a "Model Mugging" class, which was basically a class about how to beat up guys, and told me about it every...

Pros: Wonderful mix of visual beauty, ethereal music, harsh life and love.
Cons: I find none.

While browsing through my local library recently, I ran across a DVD of a movie I did not remember seeing. I was intrigued first because Aidan Quinn was in the movie and second, because of the “blip” on the back that described it as “…It ...

Pros: These are songs and sounds that deserve to be heard by the world.
Cons: I did not buy all the story lines.

An Appalachian movie showcasing a “songcatcher” is akin to putting together a movie heralding the revenuers (the law men who busted up the stills and sent the moonshiners to the slammer). You would not find many mountain men and women ready to ...

Pros: Lush cinematography, Enchanting story, Beautiful primitive music
Cons: Exploits some cultural cliches, Somewhat predictable

Set in the early 1900's Songcatcher, is a captivating period piece that embodies both the finest and most troubling aspects of life in the Appalachian region. More than just a chronicle of the discovery of the tradition rich ballads and...

Pros: Beautiful scenery, good subject matter
Cons: Not well executed, overloaded with messages

Songcatcher focuses on Lilly Penleric, (Janet McTeer) a musicologist in early 1900. Unjustly passed up for a promotion to professor she quits her job and leaves for the mountains of Appalachia to live with her sister who runs a small mountain school...

Pros: Music, acting
Cons: Didactic and predictable

Oh dear. I hate swimming against the current. But if I hate it so much, why do I keep doing it.

I convinced my husband to rent Songcatcher because I had read a review of it here and it looked good. Plus he’s gotten into hillbilly music of late...

Pros: good acting, beautiful music, beautiful scenery
Cons: plot is a bit stale, very predictable

I must admit that I had no idea what I was getting into when I agreed to go to this film. The person who suggested it mumbled something about a person going into the mountains to collect songs, and I automatically made the jump to a documentary. It...

Pros: Mountain music, superb performances
Cons: Occasionally uneven direction and pacing

In the midst of this summer's fare of dinos revisited and romantic fiascoes, there are a few thoughtful movies - and this Appalachian period drama is one. Oscar nominee Janet McTeer ("Tumbleweeds") stars as Dr. Lily Penleric, an accomplished...

Pros: Good Acting, Interesting Story idea
Cons: Plot Elements Far Too Far Apart, Casting, Character Inconsistencies

"Songcatcher" is one of those movies that has an interesting idea that is almost impossible to execute on film. This is a problem a lot of movies have; they have an idea that will take roughly a minute and a half to show and they build a ninety minute ...

Pros: Music, Setting, Cast etc etc
Cons: Lily seems just a little too uptight, but I have to find a con right?

Art and music inhabit some mysterious realm that as a writer, I can't begin to fathom but as a critic I can certainly appreciate. Songcatcher, written and directed by Maggie Greenwald - a Sundance alum better known for The Ballad of Little Jo and the...

Pros: Splendid movie, excellent photography, scenery, settings, acting, and especially soundtrack
Cons: A bit too adult to bring the young 'uns.

SONGCATCHER scarcely appeared in theatres back in 1999. I saw it at a special screening in June 2001, and it's a great pity that it hasn't gotten more exposure. This is terrific movie.

Back around 1910, a college professor of...

Pros: Unforgetable music, splendid performances, breathtaking scenery.
Cons: A bit slow at times but then that's the pace of the mountains.

I had never heard of this splendid movie. It was one of those fluke rentals when nothing else looked good. And my, oh my was I stunned,

First, the music - here is the finest movie I have ever seen to promote and glorify the music of...

Pros: McTeer and Quinn sizzle, though the meet-cute is deprecating
Cons: overlook small trites in story and just hum and dance along.

It is even more vital to discuss the music of Songcatcher that even the music of O Brother, Where Art Thou. Songcatcher's story is about a Briish woman, played by Tumbleweed's Janet McTeer, in post Spanish/American war America, transplanted to the New...

Pros: Delightful story with the bonus of a first rate soundtrack.
Cons: Needless nudity and some sexual content was overdone.

Lovely film set in the beautiful mountains of Appalachia. Frustrated academic, Janet McTeer as Dr Lilly Penleric, escapes her sexist work environment to spend the summer with her younger sister and a friend who have started a school in hard scrabble...

Pros: Worth the big-screen money
Cons: None

One of the things I liked best about Songcatcher is that it is different! When's the last time you saw a movie that revolves around the British origins of American folk music?!

The story can be predictable at times, other times you'll find...