In a film mercifully free of the usual warm and fuzzy movie sentimentality, director Maggie Greenwald and her fine cast shatter most hillbilly stereotypes.

It's a highly professional project complete with exquisite production details and superb actors, yet its subject matter is so far out of the mainstream, it feels almost radical.

This is not just a musicologist's dream; it's our dream, too.

The haunting beauty of the music, and the people who produce it – that's the chapter and verse of this story.

Has enough virtues to make it successful, including an unusual story and some fine acting, especially by the powerful Janet McTeer.

Combines strong feminist sensibilities with surprisingly old-fashioned melodrama.

McTeer and the transporting music hold you in thrall.

Greenwald is fine at creating the texture of early mountain life but loses her footing by embracing several plot points at once.

Perhaps too laden with messages for its own good, but it has many moments of musical beauty, and it's interesting to watch Janet McTeer.

It may not get top billing, but glorious music is the star of Songcatcher, an intriguing and often lovely film.

Whenever the movie threatens to become just another visit to hillbilly-land, the music starts up and the film's gentle, irresistible wonder takes hold. Songcatcher is a film very much worth catching.

Any film about the folk tradition is required to have a stellar soundtrack, and Songcatcher does not disappoint.

Greenwald's film is filled with an infectious love for the region's songs. It could hardly be otherwise, given the level of musical talent she recruited for Songcatcher.

Essential viewing for anyone who cares about American popular music and its roots.