A Map of the World

Here's yet another nod to composer, arranger and musician/performer Pat Metheny (sans the Group, as was incorrectly identified in another review). On this soundtrack, Metheny is accompanied by an unidentified chamber orchestra (percussion, violin, harp, flute, viola, cello, horn, bass, clarinet and the talented Gil Goldstein on organ).

Mostly variations on the title track, these melodic interpretations are quite eloquent (as one would come to expect from both Metheny & PMG), but arranged such that they never overtake the scene in which they are scored. Metheny contributes his own brilliant lead acoustic guitars, as well as piano and keyboards, with an overall combined feel of his previous Secret Story and Beyond the Missouri Sky releases.

A warm, introspective journey, this set of 28 tunes (6 less than a minute long and another 10 less than 2 minutes) are well-crafted and are worthy for a listen on a Sunday morning with coffee, in front of the fireplace with a nice bottle of wine or a drive in the country, esp. for those in the midwestern US.

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.

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.

One certainly can't fault Sigourney Weaver's acting here and she's in good company. But above all the pacing here is off, so that the film is too slow sometimes, then speeds up unexpectedly. The key dramas that drive it might have been spaced out a little differently and at least one motivated more clearly. The dynamic between husband and wife is hard to follow sometimes, as are the purpose of various scenes, notably what look like outtakes from "Orange is the New Black". Does the film have a moral, a point? Missed it if so.

It is a pity that "A Map of the World" was not better directed. It had it all, a wonderful story, brilliant actors but the movie somehow lacked guidance. In spite of this problem, Sigourney Weaver was nothing short of magnificent, her performance did deserve an Academy Award nomination. It is astonishing how well she plays roles that range from comedy to drama, always doing it beautifully. If "A Map of the World" were to be directed by somebody else, it would have been a masterpiece.