Name : Molly Eichel / Alias : Philadelphia Inquirer
The plot itself has little momentum, and what should feel dramatic instead feels inert.

Name : Jen Chaney / Alias : Washington Post
The warmth of spirit behind this project allows its missteps to be mostly forgiven.

Name : A.A. Dowd / Alias : AV Club
Apparently too close to the story to recognize how ill suited she was to translating its charms to the screen, Trigiani has emerged with nothing but corny, stilted Americana, like something Garrison Keillor might burp out on a really off day.

Name : Kyle Smith / Alias : New York Post
Good nature counts for something, but it's all so comfy you may fall asleep.

Name : Randy Cordova / Alias : Arizona Republic
Nothing feels believable in "Big Stone Gap," a bungled, charm-free look at small-town life in the South in the late '70s.

Name : Ben Sachs / Alias : Chicago Reader
Director Adriana Trigiani, adapting her best-selling novel, delivers the hackneyed material with good cheer, eliciting bright performances from an [excellent] ensemble cast.

Name : Richard Roeper / Alias : Chicago Sun-Times
By the time we get to the final, borderline ludicrous moments in Big Stone Gap, I wasn't even surprised by the overwhelming sappiness of it all.

Name : Gary Goldstein / Alias : Los Angeles Times
That the creaky romantic comedy "Big Stone Gap" attracted such a large ensemble of talented name actors only makes this country-fried turkey feel like an even more notable miss.

Name : Soren Anderson / Alias : Seattle Times
It's tempting to say "Big Stone Gap" is greeting-card pretty and sweet, but that doesn't quite fit because these days greeting cards seem to have developed a bit of an edge. "Big Stone Gap" is edge-free.