Dr. Lily Penleric: Janet McTeer	Tom Bledsoe: Aidan Quinn
Viney Butler: Pat Carroll	Elna Penleric: Jane Adams
Deladis Slocumb: Emmy Rossum	Harriet Tolliver: E. Katherine Kerr
Fate Honeycutt: Greg Cook	Earl: David P. Kelly
Alice Kincaid: Stephanie Roth	Dexter: Taj Mahal
Rose Gentry: Iris DeMent	Wallace Aldrich: Michael Goodwin
Director: Maggie Greenwald

30 Second Bottom Line: In the early 1900's a female professor of music from an eastern college, after being passed over (again) for a promotion, visits her sister in North Carolina, who runs a school in a poor Appalachian area. While there, she becomes involved in recording both the histories of the people and their music.

Story Line: Dr. Lily Penleric (Janet McTeer) will be happy with her life, continuing an affair with a married colleague at her small Eastern college, if she is promoted from associate to full professor of music, as she justly deserves. When Lily gets passed over once again, she leaves the college and goes as far away as possible, to visit her sister Elna, a teacher in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina.

After hearing the "native" singing of Deladis Slocumb (Emmy Rossum), Lily decides to use her talent as a musicologist to document the music of the area and to publish a book. Most people on the mountain don't trust her and if she can convince Viney Butler (Pat Carroll) of her sincerity, the others may want to cooperate. Viney is a prime keeper of the songs that these folks have been singing all their lives, lyrics and tunes dating from 16th century Scotland and Ireland. They see Lily's desire to document their music as another attempt to steal from them, as the owner of the local coal mine is doing, buying their farms, dirt cheap. When Lily says she wants to exalt their music, Tom Bledsoe, Viney's grandson, tells her that is the same as "exploit and steal."

Lily's sister Elna and Harriet Tolliver are close friends who run the school bringing much needed education to the area. They are in many ways like missionaries but without a religious agenda. Lily gradually makes contacts and some friends as she travels deep into Appalachia recording the voices and lyrics and documenting the musical scores on paper. As you might expect, when she first meets people they refuse to cooperate and then the circumstances of the plot often allow them to either sing or play a stringed instrument. While there is a lot of music, the film has more of the feel of a documentary with music, than a musical with a story thrown together as an excuse for the music.

You come to care about the characters, even the ones you don't like such as Earl or Fate. Earl is a "good ole boy" who does the bidding for the local coal mine owner, who wants to buy people's land for literally next to nothing. He's a part of the community but has gone "off the mountain" to become part of the "outlanders," the people who work regular jobs and live in the valley. Fate is a troubled young man with a temper and an inflated idea of what it means to be a man. That's an unlucky combination for young Deladis, who believes she is in love with him.

When Rose Gentry (Iris DeMent) and Lily find Alice Kincaid (Stephanie Roth) bathed in blood, as she is about to have a baby, a reluctant Lily helps to deliver the child. Alice's husband has left his family, as he does periodically, to spend time with another woman. Later in the film Lily discovers a wonderful artistic gift that Alice has that can be used to support her and her children. This event causes a significant change in perspective by several women in the community, as well as in Lily. Rose no longer sees Lily as a person who views the mountain people as inferior to outlanders and Lily now understands that the culture and value of the poor folks in the hills extends beyond their ability to sing and play a guitar.

Throw in a budding love story between Lily and Tom along with how some of the mountain folk feel about a homosexual relationship and there's a story here that both entertains and enlightens.

Tell Me More About It: Seeing Songcatcher is like taking a trip to a foreign land, as the culture of the people that live in the remote mountains of western North Carolina show most of us a part of America that we've not seen before. Some of the people are dirt poor and backwards like the typical image of them as illiterate and inbred. What this film shows is that there is a rich culture of values in people who don't necessarily know how to read or write. Much of this is shown in the soulful songs that they sing and play that makes you respect their way of life.

It's also good to see a story of interest that is well done and not totally depressing about people near the turn of the 20th century who are not in the privileged classes such as those portrayed in The House of Mirth, Bride of the Wind and The Golden Bowl. Among the exceptional actors who bring this culture to life are Janet McTeer, Iris DeMent, Jane Adams, Greg Cook and Emmy Rossum. For those of you who thought O Brother, Where Art Thou? was a great period piece in its story and music, you will be delighted with what you learn from this tale with its refreshingly honest and easy to listen to mountain soul music.

Janet McTeer: The King is Alive	Tom Bledsoe: Music of the Heart
Jane Adams: The Anniversary Party	Maggie Greenwald: The Ballad of Little Jo