Rating: 
Summary: Great music, but thats about it.
Review: This film does a great job of capturing Olde Time Southern music in its original time and place. Music that makes the toe tap as well as, putting shivers down your spine, its all there. The cinemotagraphy, while doing a decent job at conveying the grittier side of moutain life, overall is a little dissapointing. Tthe story takes place in one of the most beautiful parts of America, yet the only time you even see a mountain range is for 2 seconds. Adain Quinn is awesome as the pipe smoking, aloof but educated mountain man. But the lead actress's, (wanna-be Dr Quinn Medicine woman) overacting is alomost too painful to watch. If they had casted someone better, the movie would have been superb.
Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful film
Review: This was a pleasant surprise. I had never heard of this film and saw it while browsing at my local library. I loved it so much that I purchased a copy. It is a beautifully filmed story with wonderful acting, gorgeous location photography and beautiful music. Pat Carroll almost steals the film with her memorable portrayal of Vilmy. As some earlier reviewers have mentioned, there is a lesbian subplot but big whoop - it is so minor and tame that it is ridiculous to ridicule the film for it. Do not let prude reviews deter you from seeing this wonderful film!
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but could have been better
Review: I just watched the VHS last night. The filming is beautiful and the acting superb but this movie could have been phenomenal if the lesbian love affair had been omitted all together. I was offended by their foreplay scene and if it had been at the begining of the film I would have stopped watching it.
The music is great and hope that the soundtrack is as good as the music displayed on the film.
Rating:
Summary: Sundace Film Festival - Songcatcher
Review: This was a wonderful movie. We saw it at the film festival and were entranced. We hoped to see it in theaters but believe it never got there. The music was great and the story was very well done...we were sad when it was over.
Rating:
Summary: Has an Idea and Follows It Through to the End
Review: What I like best about this film is that it has a central idea that it sticks with from opening to close. It doesn't get ruined by someone's tossing in a murder or a mobster which then wholly overtakes its trajectory. Its premise is also original, about a female professor, Lily, who experiences discrimination back when it was legal, and hies herself off to a North Carolina mountain community where she discovers centuries old English ballads alive, well and performed stunningly by the people there. She begins to collect the music and comes to know the people and participate in their community in the process. Aidan Quinn is in one of his best roles in awhile as mountain man, Tom, newly returned from WWI, with tons of talent and in need of direction on what to do with it. Lily, as you might expect, has ideas enough for two. This is another wonderful film discovered by the Sundance Film Festival, which has brought us so much quality in independent film.
Rating: 
Summary: Love the music, but . . .
Review: This is the music that I most love, performed by musicians who do it the best: Hazel Dickens, Iris Dement, and was that Don Pedi playing dulcimer? The music in the movie (though not the soundtrack) is SO authentic, that alone makes it worth the watch. "Pretty Saro," "Soldier's Joy," "Barbry Allen," - the hits just keep on coming!Unfortunately, a movie which seems designed to celebrate Appalachian culture does a huge disservice to it by painting with overbroad strokes. Why are these hillbillies angry enough to burn down schools? Why, because they attend fundamentalist churches of course!! And why didn't they just have the coal-company thug tie the heroine to the railroad tracks? The movie's most bizarre undercurrent is the anachronistic lesbian love-affair (are we really supposed to believe that Aidan Quinn's hot-headed mountain man just accepts them as "sweethearts"?). I was thinking of showing this one to my 8th grade music classes (so happy that there were no "s" words or "f" words!) when Janet McTeer stumbles on the first lesbian love scene. Oh well. The worst part though is that it does absolutely nothing for the story. One last grumble (and I REALLY DID like this movie!): "Songcatcher" misuses the fantastic song "O Death!" just as "O Brother Where Art Thou?" did. In both movies, for some reason, the words are put in the mouths of the villains. The song reflects the religious beliefs of Christian communities in Appalachia during the 19th century, beliefs in the reality of Hell and human need for salvation. It is not a paean to Death itself!!!
Rating:
Summary: Songcatcher with Janet McTeer and Aidan Quinn
Review: I adored this movie. I wanted to rewind it and watch it again. The music is marvelous. The acting is superb. I fully understand why it was the winner of the Sundance award for excellence. The ending is superb. It left me feeling happy and uplifted. A very unique story. Wonderful!
Rating:
Summary: Music at its purest form
Review: Anyone interested in music history and/or Scottish/Irish/English ballads that were taken to the hills of the Southeastern US to evolve into mountain music really must see this movie. To the director's credit, the music was presented as it should have been, acoustically, with beautiful, authentic mountain voices. The story background themes may be a bit cliche, but it's not important, as the real story is the music itself, and the importance of preserving it. One point I would have to argue is the emphasis on the music coming from England. These ballads were mainly Scots/Irish, and it was mentioned briefly, but there were too many references to the English ballads. If the music is to be revered and preserved, its true origins should be accurate. However, I would definitely recommend this movie for all true music buffs.
Rating:
Summary: Music is all that holds it together
Review: I was entised by the story after hearing a review of it on NPR, However there was much in the movie that was omitted from the review. Pat Carroll was the best performance by far. Music was exceptional, worth enduring the movie in fact. The majority of the performances were wholey unbelievable and the whole "all dedicated female school teachers of the era are lesbians" undertone was a bit much. It tended to detract from the movie's emphasis on the music. Not a video worth purchasing, nor for children.
Rating:
Summary: SONGCATCHER SINGS!
Review: This movie is a delight. The intelligent story, the first-rate
acting, and - above all - the music combine in a quality film.
Janet McTeer is brilliant...Pat Carroll is terrific...Aidan Quinn is on-target and believable. The story swerves into genteel lesbianism, and violence - not needed - which detracted from the main plot of McTeer and the music, but it didn't ruin the film. All in all...well done. And, since I live here, I enjoyed the scenery and the famiiar faces. Highly recommended.
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