A Map of the World

kudos to Sigourney Weaver for yet another outstanding and sympathetic performance. David Straithairn also is effective as the husband, caught in a web of chaos; Weaver as a school nurse is accused of child abuse in a small Wisconsin town; this after a child she is babysitting accidentally drowns. (The mother of the drowned child is portrayed by Julianne Moore).

Look for an excellent part with Arliss Howard as the defense attorney; it is a shocking surprise that 5 other children come forward accusing Weaver; it develops into a sort of witch hunt- and the actress playing the prosecutor is quite odious.

"A Map of the World" is not an easy story to take to; there are many complicated and also malicious sides of several characters; The character Weaver portrays is complex; guilty, and angry about a child accidentally dying, she accepts prison as an appropriate sentence, and even injures herself; She remains sympathetic however, throughout this film, and that is a rare talent that many actors could NEVER carry off. A must see. 9/10.

Stage director Scott Elliott had his hands full with this story, and while it has its moments, overall his choices didn't really add up to a winner. Some people have sleighted this movie because of how "quickly" the trial is taken care of near the end, but in fact the book is the same way, and for good reason: the trial is not what the story is about. Unfortunately, as with so many book-to-film translations, the poetry of the prose and thus some of the deeper meanings are lost. Some of the changes between the film and the book work effectively to condense dozens of pages into one idea (the "wall of baby pictures" in the jail helps quickly convey Alice's changing relationship with her unit mates), but other changes only serve to hammer home a point that was made with much more subtlety in the book. (Did we really need angry graffiti on the side of the Goodwin's house? WE GET IT -- the town didn't like them!) Pat Metheny's original soundtrack was beautifully melodic, as he usually is, but it didn't fit in with the feel of the movie, and surprisingly, it didn't have much of the Midwest sensibilities one would expect from a composer from Missouri. Nonetheless, this movie will at least be worth a video rental, especially if you are a Sigourney Weaver fan and want to see her doing something other than an _Alien_ pic. While it took me awhile to warm to it, her portrayal of Alice in the end is stunning, and much more complex than anything else in this movie.

Sigourney Weaver offers a marvellous performance in this film, playing mother and school nurse Alice Goodwin, whose world is torn apart after the death of a friend's child on her property, and the lodging of a sexual assault charge by the mother of one of the students she deals with on a regular basis.

This is most definitely NOT a light movie. It has adult themes, and some very troubling subject matter. As good as Weaver is, the supporting cast also offers some very powerful moments. David Strathairn portrays Howard Goodwin, Alice's husband, as he helplessly watches the community turn against the entire family, and as he struggles with the decisions that need to be made to free Alice. Julianna Moore (as Theresa Collins, the mother whose child died while being watched by Alice) is very believable as the grieving mother, struggling with her anger toward Alice over her daughter's death, and yet also convinced that the assault charges against her are ridiculous. The scenes between Strathairn and Collins, both playing vulnerable characters dealing with circumstances completely beyond their control, are raw with emotion. The only performance I found truly disappointing was that of Arliss Howard as attorney Paul Reverdy. I didn't find him believable in the role.

All in all, though, this is a strong movie, and well deserves an 8/10.

"A Map of the World" is easily one of the most honest films I've ever seen. The merits go specially to a very fine cast and a clever, well written screenplay. Sigourney Weaver really shines here, in an Oscar caliber performance, as Alice Goodwin, a woman who is not afraid to show what she is feeling. She is married, has two young girls, lives in a farm and works at a school nursery. Her life seems calm, but happy, until a terrible accident happens, followed by a sad mistake, and her life falls apart.

"A Map of the World" had everything to be a bland and conventional film, but it is not. I have to say that I don't give any merit to the direction- this is indeed the main problem. The director doesn't captivate the audience, and doesn't seem to care about that. There are many slow moments and scenes that could have been cut. But "A Map of the World" is a rarity- a very good film with mediocre directing. Who is the miracle maker? Sigourney Weaver, surely. She shows passion for acting and an incredible strength as Alice Goodwin. I can't imagine anyone else playing Alice, because Sigourney is perfect building her character. The Oscar was gone, but I put Weaver on my list of snubbed stars this year. But she doesn't work alone- Julianne Moore is here, and when she is in you can expect much. I'm a fan of Ms. Moore since I've seen her in "Short Cuts", and now that I've seen "Magnolia" (if you've read some of my reviews you know how much I praise "Magnolia") I'm starting to adore this lady. She shines even in slapstick comedies as "Nine Months"... There's nothing she can't do!

Getting back to "A Map of the World", I have to say that I appreciated very much its screenplay. It was written with strength, trying to escape of the clichés even in courtroom scenes. There are many beautiful messages the film has to pass and it should be admired for this. It shows that everyone commits mistakes, more than one time, and that is why we are ordinary people, with qualities and flaws. We should learn with ourselves and with the others. We should believe in ourselves and try to cope with our mistakes. The film has messages like these to learn, and many others, resulting in a complex study of people in conflict.

I truly recommend "A Map of the World", despite its flaws. Watch it for Sigourney, Julianne and the messages and forget the weak directing. It is a worth seeing.

When I finished this film, I was sure that it ran over two and a half hours. In reality, it was only 125 minutes. That reveals something about the pace. If you can imagine a worm burrowing through granite, you have the idea.

Actually, the story was a good one. The problem was the screenplay and the direction. This is a story of Alice Goodwin (Sigourney Weaver) a city girl who has moved to the country so her husband could try his hand at farming. However, this is no Green Acres. Alice is having difficulty coping with country life and her relationship with her two children. One day she is minding a friend's children and leaves them playing with her own children momentarily to put on her bathing suit. Upon returning, she discovers one of her friend's little girls missing and after a desperate search finds her face down in the pond. Subsequent to this tragic accident, Alice is accused of child abuse by another child who claims she molested him in her duties as school nurse. The two incidents together turn the whole town ugly as they assume she must be guilty. The story is an in-depth character study of Alice and her struggle to cope with both her guilt and innocence. The guilt is her feeling of responsibility for the little girl's drowning and the innocence is the knowledge that she is not a child abuser.

Usually I enjoy complex character studies with deep conflicting emotions, but this one left me exhausted. This is not because of the story, but because of the script and the presentation by Director Scott Elliot. Far too much time was spent on scenes that weren't really interesting or relevant. The dialogue often seemed inconsistent with the characters, especially in Howard's (David Straithairn) case. The lawyer was made to look like a buffoon. Having seen Arliss Howard in a number of other films, I know he is a capable dramatic actor so I have to assume this was the director's interpretation of the character.

Sigourney Weaver has received much critical acclaim for this performance, but I found it to be somewhat uneven. She was superb in parts, especially the parts where she was playing the strong woman trying to hold it all together. However, she seemed to struggle with the vulnerable parts, as if she wasn't comfortable with the character. I realize that part of the point was that Alice wasn't comfortable in her own skin and used a lot of defense mechanisms to cope, but Weaver seemed unnatural and forced in these scenes. She seems to have a lot tougher time playing weakness than strength. In that regard, Julianne Moore's performance was much better. Her breakdown scene in the woods was compelling and heartrending.

David Straithairn was well cast as the self-sacrificing and supportive husband, a role with which he is well familiar. However, he too seemed uncharacteristically tentative. When veteran actors have so much trouble giving confident performances, one has to wonder if there was a disconnect between the actors and the first time director.

Overall, despite some good performances and a solid story, the whole project just didn't come together and dragged ponderously from scene to scene. I rated it a 6/10. For patient viewers only.