source: Big Stone Gap

I hadn't seen many previews about this movie but I had seen an interview with Jenna Elfman before it came out. The only thing I had trouble with in the beginning was a few of the characters I wasn't sure their relationship with Ave and their professions. But all was explained as the story went on. This was an excellent movie. One minute I was laughing, one minute I was crying. My only problem was why did Jack and Ave wait so long to express their feelings? Ending was different than I was expecting, hoping that Jack and Ave would go to Italy for their honeymoon. But it still ending great. If you see it on DVD, be sure and watch all the bonus features.

The film takes place in 1978 in the small mining town of Big Stone Gap, Virginia. It centers on Ave Maria Mulligan who is "the town spinster" and owns the pharmacy. Her boyfriend is Theodore Tipton (John Benjamin Hickey) an outsider. It is clear her heart is with Jack MacChesney (Patrick Wilson) who likewise had loved her since the sixth grade. Jack works in the mines and is dating Sweet Sue (Jane Krakowski) a single mom who oozes with love and affection. The deck is stacked against them. The film had its mildly humorous moments, but is clearly not a romantic comedy. It is a feel good formula romance. It won't win any awards, but there was nothing bad about the feature. Whoopi Goldberg had a role slightly less than her billing, but was still entertaining. Dagmara Dominczyk who plays Elizabeth Taylor in the film is Patrick Wilson's off screen wife. If a simple small town formula feel good romance is what you want to watch, look no further. No swearing, sex, or nudity.

We found this movie on Netflix streaming. It is a small movie and comes off as a "made for TV" production but actually had a short theatrical run. Interestingly the small town of Big Stone Gap is real, in the western part of Virginia just a few miles north of the Tennessee border, and the writer/director is from Big Stone Gap. Presumably some of the actors and many of the extras were residents of the community. It is set in 1978 and the two featured character are 40, Patrick Wilson (actually 40 during filming) as coal miner Jack MacChesney and Ashley Judd (actually 45 during filming) as Ave Maria Mulligan. Jack and Ave each are somewhat seeing other people but it is clear from the start that he has an eye for her. But for some reason she seems unapproachable. Ave runs the family drug store in the small town of a few thousand and knows just about everyone, and is one of the few "serious" characters in this movie. She is a good soul and a kind person. The story here is nice and ends well. But my biggest issue with the movie is how almost all the characters are played as caricatures. They say things or do things that aren't very authentic and most seem to be buffoons. There is a good enough core story here that they didn't need to go overboard with the silliness and slapstick. SPOILERS: Ave's mother dies and when the lawyer, a family friend, meets with her for the will he also gives her an envelope. Her mother had left it to tell her the true story, she had arrived from Italy pregnant and the dad Ave grew up with was not her biological father. In the envelope was a photo and name of her father in Italy. Unknown to her Jack finds the man and brings him to Big Stone Gap to surprise Ave, and she and Jack finally get together, right after she finds out her "man", the local band director, is really a homosexual.

Very annoying film with not much of a storyline. Middle aged actress, who I always rated, gives mediocre performance. Very few comic moments and very twee at bits.

A nice, easy going story with a bit of a 'feel good' factor. However, Ashley Judd looked too old to play a 40 yr old. This was actually very distracting as she looked more like 50. Surely they could've found another actress nearer 40 who could've played this role? Patrick Wilson was excellent as always and perfectly cast in his role.

Well, it has some cudling moments for the ones who likes to lugh and cry when watching movie, and especially the last will hit a high score. but what we missed, my wife and i, was the true sting to the plot of the story. actually, there are really nothing groundbreaking and unique about this film. the acting are good, and the cast tries to make a beautiful impression, but the jumping jack flashy-feeling are missing here and youll never really '' find that lovly feelin' ''. it would have been a lot more interesting if she left looking for her father..... its based on a novel, a fine one for sure, but adapting the story into a screenplay are difficult and in this instance i feel the glitch-factor alot. the time line and fast shifting environments and rather awkward editing and direction , makes it hard to follow and rend into the story its not a rewatch for me , and the grumpy old mans wife does just barely recommend it.

It's 1978. Big Stone Gap is a coal mining town in the mountains of Virginia. Ave Maria Mulligan (Ashley Judd) is the 40 year old spinster who runs her late mean-spirited father's pharmacy. After her mother's death, she gets a letter from her revealing her real Italian biological father. She has a longtime love of quiet miner Jack MacChesney (Patrick Wilson) but gold-digging divorcee Sweet Sue Tinsley (Jane Krakowski) has set her sights on him. Fleeta Mullins (Whoopi Goldberg) is her one employee. This is a lot of Hollywood types trying to play hillbillies. It's a wacky artistic group with too many lacking the prerequisite red necks. Judd and Wilson can pass for photogenic country folk but there are too many other wacky coasters. Elfman and Goldberg don't fit. This lacks the authenticity of a 70's coal mining town. Even poor Pearl Grimes' family has a nice house. The coal mining has no realism. It's a bunch of guys with hand shovels. I do like the actors and characters overall. Judd and Wilson are an appealing romantic pairing. It's not quite enough to overcome the lack of a ramshackle setting or believable town folks. have been more intensity but Fry is good.

I know people say the book is better but in this case it isn't. This is filmed in my hometown and is about my hometown. The book is awful (I had to force myself to read it) and the movie is worse, especially the changing of facts from the book to fit the movie. The actors and actresses were great, they just didn't have anything to work with!

Go see Big Stone Gap, the movie this weekend. This is a corny, fun, hayride of a romantic comedy that is all about Southwest Virginia and our people. Check it out. The movie was shot in Big Stone Gap with both it's natural beauty, and country culture. The accents are accurate. The story reflects the struggles in a small coal town and the heroic journey of Ava Maria, her friends, and family. The comic elements are subtle and low key. If you are not from here, some of the humor will fly over your head as if you were an 8 year old. This story has heart.At my viewing, I saw people that likely had not been in a theater in 30 years. Demographics 30-80 years old. Remarkable. Hollywood are you listening? Big Stone Gap will be a cult classic, just like Dirty Dancing. Bring Kleenex!