Big Stone Gap (2014)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Excellent, smart action film.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

If you can accept that Virginia coal mining town can have a miner who looks like Patrick Wilson and a pharmacy owner who looks like Ashley Judd then you might enjoy this movie. Whoopi Goldberg is totally out of place here.But unrealistic looks aside, the story is quite painful. He is too young for her and she looks unhappy. I've always been a fan of Ashley Judd and praise her for not having plastic surgery to look younger. She is still very slim but there is a frown on her face and a bit of puffiness that is a little distressing to see on someone who was so beautiful. Maybe a romantic role wasn't right for her. Patrick Wilson looks too healthy and wholesome for the role - long sideburns don't a hillbilly make.The touching gesture of selling his truck to bring over her family kind of rings fake. It would have been better if she just took a trip to Italy.Don't bother with this one.

I don't think I stopped smiling from the first frame until the end, even though a few times I was smiling through tears. Call it a chick flick if you will, but this is a film with great heart and more than a little gravitas. I have enjoyed Adriana Trigiani's novels for years and was pleased to see that Big Stone Gap was to be made into a film. I admit that I was a bit skeptical about the author serving as writer and director, but kudos to her for an outstanding job! The cast is excellent -- Ashley Judd and Patrick Wilson are just right as not-so-young single residents of a small Virginia town where everybody wants to mind their business. The supporting cast includes veteran actors such as Whoopi Goldberg, Jenna Elfman and Judith Ivey, who really pull their weight. It's funny, heartwarming, and absolutely beautiful, shot on location in the real town of Big Stone Gap, Virginia, where Trigiani grew up (and where Patrick Wilson's grandparents lived. Go figure.) No phony Southern accents in this film - They get it right. Thank you!!

So nice to see an accurate view of Americana. Lush photography, numerous subplots, human themes, and quirk characters- a movie that is more like us than the "classical" movies are.Ashley Judd is true to her roots and the nuances and depth of her acting resonates. Patrick Wilson is all that we expect him to be: If they ever made "The Phantom of the Mountains", he would be the hero! And Whoopi, as always, nails the obvious with offbeat humor and insights. Even Shug makes a cameo.And, a true-to-1978 UK shirt is slipped in. Ever have a mean aunt? A luscious librarian?? A wild girlfriend??? A friend who is more deserving of help than anyone you ever knew????Feel like sighing, smiling, and identifying Americana artifacts? - Go see!!

Adriana Trigiani is a fantastic writer especially if you are from the south and have moved away. Her humor is spot on with her southern twist. Love her books and have anxiously awaited seeing this movie for some time. I hope it gets better distribution soon. Fantastic cast. Ashley Judd, Whoopi & Jenna Elfman were cast perfectly for their characters and so was everyone else. Scenery was beautiful. I have read nearly all of her books and I hope we have a sequel soon because the story just gets better and better in the other books. Prepare to laugh and laugh. Her portrayal of a true small southern town is so special. You feel like you are part of the town and you feel like you know everyone. It's a turn back in time of the way things used to be. It's a special movie full of heart and soul.