Michael Ledo 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.

phd_travel 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.

TxMike 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.

Dwayne Anderson I read where someone said it was a film that would only interest residents of Big Stone Gap. Not true! It does however, depict a way of life that is fast fading away. The movie is set in 1978, as was the book of the same title, but I can tell you having visited the area, that it remains largely unchanged today. Trigiani consistently creates characters in her novels that touch our hearts and become our friends. This movie version of her debut novel truly brings her already vibrant characters to life. I credit the honesty of the film, and it's adherence to the original story, to Trigiani's hands-on approach to movie making. It is obvious her heart and soul went into this project. If the reviewers who criticize would only slow down, step back, and allow themselves to be transported to this simpler time and place, they too would fall in love with Big Stone Gap.