Songcatcher (2000)

Director:

Maggie Greenwald

Writer (WGA):

Maggie Greenwald (written by)

Release Date:

1 March 2001 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Plot:

After being denied a promotion at the university where she teaches, Doctor Lily Penleric, a brilliant musicologist...

Plot Keywords:

Mountain | Song | University | Ballad | Musician

Awards:

5 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Janet McTeer	...	Professor Lily Penleric, PhD
Michael Davis	...	Dean Arthur Pembroke
Michael Goodwin	...	Professor Wallace Aldrich, PhD
Greg Russell Cook	...	Fate Honeycutt
Jane Adams	...	Eleanor 'Elna' Penleric
E. Katherine Kerr	...	Harriet Tolliver
Emmy Rossum	...	Deladis Slocumb
Pat Carroll	...	Viney Butler
Stephanie Roth Haberle	...	Alice Kincaid
Aidan Quinn	...	Tom Bledsoe
Bart Hansard	...	Hilliard
Erin Blake Clanton	...	Polly
David Patrick Kelly	...	Earl Giddens
Kristin Hall	...	Isabel
Michael Harding	...	Reese Kincaid

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual content and an intense scene of childbirth.

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:M | New Zealand:M | USA:PG-13 (certificate #37448)

Filming Locations:

Asheville, North Carolina, USA

Company:

ErgoArts

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Kudzu is shown growing in the forest. Kudzu was introduced into Appalachia in the 1930s from Japan to slow erosion. Kudzu would not have been present during the period this movie covers.

Quotes:

Tom Bledsoe: See, that's what you outlanders don't understand. Life is for enjoying, not just getting and working, and getting and working.

Soundtrack:

Pickin' That Thang (Dr. Joe)

Music good. Movie - not so good.

I'd let to get the music out of the way first. Fantastic, wonderful. The singers and other performers were excellent, and serve as a reminder of the great music that comes out of the mountains.

The movie, however, fails to inspire. My impression of the film was that the writer/director wanted to make a movie about mountain music, and proceeded to write dramatic filler. As opposed to "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", where the movie was as entertaining as the music, the drama seems to go nowhere.

One of the subplots, about two lesbians inhabiting the mountain, doesn't seem to have much of a point at all, other than to bring about the ending that the writer wanted. The coal mining company plot was dropped about half-way through the movie. Some scenes - such as when Emmy Rossum's character gets proposed to - seem forced and don't work. In fact, the best way to summarize the dramatic tension in this movie is "forced"; characters do things that they seem to smart to do, just to push the plot along. Examples include the lesbians making love right along a trail, Rossum's boyfriend through most of the movie, or even McTeer's relationship with a married man. I'm reminded of Bela Lugosi's famous line "Pull the string! Pull the string!"

Janet McTeer's character starts out cold; in fact, the actress excels at this to the point that we're wondering if this is why the school doesn't want her to begin with. She's condescending, and while the writer obviously intended for her to warm up during the course of the movie, McTeer doesn't follow through. As a result, our protagonist remains distant throughout the work; her relationship with Aidan Quinn doesn't even make much sense, as he seems a bit too alive to want a relationship with someone that cold. It's unfortunate, since the rest of the actors do a very good job, especially Pat Carroll.

My recommendation is to rent the movie and fastforward, stopping during the singing scenes.