Nonureva Really Surprised!

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Married Baby Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Another_Face This is a tough task. I want to explain why this film is very worthy of a viewing, without giving any spoilers away. It's not the most incredible film ever made, but it's so much better than many films made in 1999. It's beauty is organic, in that from a good story/novel comes a very finely honed and skilled script. A story that manages the odd laugh in some very dark situations. A script that gives us the kitchen sink drama of folk attempting the American dream, the tense drama that sometimes has you wondering whether you like that person you loved a minute ago, and some very normal, human days. Then you take the immensely talented Sigourney Weaver, David Strathairn, and Julianne Moore (along with other mentionables such as Richard McMillan and Aunjanue Ellis) to deliver the dialogue, and we already have something worth watching.I could attempt to interpret it, and tell you what it's all about, what it all 'means' but, in essence it's a story about some people dealing with some extraordinary events in their ordinary lives. What we learn, or take away from it is down to the individual watching.The direction, and photography is flawless, with some subtle colour themes running throughout the movie. Greys and pale blues, set with rust and bright orange as the story progresses; fields and concrete, hope and despair. The story is linear, but very rarely the camera cunningly takes us to different times and places. The soundtrack is just fine, and while it, and the film sometimes verge on being a little saccharine (which it manages to avoid in the main), what we see here are some very talented people making a good solid film.A lot of the time what you think is about to happen next, often does. But be ready for a couple of surprises, and even if what happens next is what you suspected would occur, just watch some people acting their socks off! I only found this film because the DVD was on sale for half a dollar, and bought it purely on the strength of Sigourney Weaver and Julianne Moore, who have never let me down. They are a couple of the best actors of their generation - I only have to point you to Snowcake, The Hours, or Magnolia for solid proof of that. Apart from their obvious acting abilities, I particularly applaud their lack of vanity, and dedication to getting things right.If you think you're into good film, and want to see all of them before you die, then you really should watch this one.

rcraig62 This movie could have been handled with a lot more depth. The first hour or so is well done, but then it becomes another B-movie tear-jerker, so much Hollywood fluff. A Map Of The World is the story of a married mother of two on a Wisconsin farm who suffers terribly when, while babysitting her best friend's two children, one of them wanders off and accidentally drowns in a pond on their property, after which she is charged with child abuse (in an unrelated incident) on her job as a school nurse and the confluence of events turn her quiet farm life upside down. I thought Sig Weaver gave a generally good performance as the mom in trouble, considering the script she had to work with, which is mostly banal trash. David Straithairn is reliably good as usual as the put-upon husband. I guess Julianne Moore has the best moment in the film, after playing it brave-faced at the death of her daughter, she is found by Weaver in the woods having a private breakdown. It's a great piece of acting and very touching, but it's only great compared to the rest of the movie. Straight-up, it's not all that good. The biggest problem here is the script. Some of the situations and dialogue are fraudulent, and characters aren't really developed. Chloe Sevigny plays basically a cardboard cut-out of a sleazy bimbo (she might as well have just had it stamped on her forehead for all the script gives her to do), and in one scene Julianne Moore's husband is overheard in an angry tantrum because Straithairn and his kids were in their house visiting, but then, I wondered, how did he feel about HER going over THERE. It isn't really explored. I also didn't get some of what Weaver's character was doing - the "let's let Oprah decide" speech, or one scene when Straithairn visits her in prison and she's making a lot of rambling small talk and doesn't ask about the kids - the insensitivity seems totally out of character. I didn't believe it for a second when the black women who were needling her in the cellblock "came around" at the end, the scene where Straithairn and Moore kiss I saw coming a mile away, and for the creme de la creme of tawdry Hollywood BS endings, when Moore's character turns up pregnant at the end of the movie, it is the ultimate in cheap, slapdash, feel-good garbage. Oh, well, drown one baby, make another. This is the sort of thing that screenwriters love because it provides a neat and happy resolution to everything, when, in fact, there is never a resolution to losing a child. If you remove Miss Weaver's occasional nudity, this thing could play forever on Lifetime channel. In spite of some strong efforts by the actors, A Map Of The World is junk, irredeemable junk. 2** out of 4

smgelscheit Set in Southern Wisconsin, the accents in this movie were so stereotypically Hollywood's idea of the way people in the mid west speak- the flattened vowels held just a little too long. I grew up in the Milwaukee area and these accents sounded false to my ears. I'm surprised cheese and beer didn't play larger parts in the plot (though there were cows).

jrwilliams51 Map Of The World: Starring Sigourney Weaver Has The Most Interesting Thing About The Entire Movie And Character Portrayed By Sigourney Weaver That Goes Beyond Any Thing I have Ever Witnessed From Hollywood When A Person Is Falsely Accused Of A Crime That Involves Child Neglect Or Child Abuse. The Fact That She Never Not Once At Anytime Throughout The Whole Film Lashed Out At Her Accusers.