A Map of the World

Rarely has the stresses and strains of child-rearing and married life been presented so honestly. Sigourney Weaver's Alice Goodwin is a farm wife and mother and part-time school nurse. She is often exhausted and frustrated with her children, the eldest girl being a real pill at times, and bored with the routines of family life. Her husband is a decent, taciturn man, content to deal with the farming and leave the children's need for constant attention and domestic chores to his wife to handle.

Weaver's best friend and neighbor is Theresa, wonderfully played by Julianne Moore, is the perfect wife and mother with a house neat-as-a-pin in contrast to the chaos of Weaver's. A tragic accident sets in motion a series of events that land Weaver in jail, and upsets all the relationships and the world of these very decent people.

What is so refreshing in this film is that all the characters are not cliches. Weaver's Alice is a sharply intelligent, sometimes abrasive, prickly personality. She does not submit humbly to her imprisonment and in fact becomes even more difficult. David Strathairn as Howard her husband, is a man overwhelmed by the sudden responsiblity for his children and household. There is a nice turn by Arliss Howard as Weaver's attorney, self-amused and egotistic at the legal games he plays. Julianne Moore's Theresa is believable in her stricken grief.

This is a sharply observed study of real people under stress and passing through the kind of events that change lives forever. It is worth your time alone to see Sigourney Weaver's masterful embodiment of this beautiful, difficult, ornery and truthful woman. But her marvelous performance is matched and ably supported by her co-stars.

There may be missing that "big" cathartic moment to round out the picture, this film opting to reveal its truths more quietly and matter-of-factly, but it has something to say about how people cope with and are transformed by tragedy and tribulation, and that makes it reach farther than most of the fare we get. A solid 4-1/2 stars. Worthwhile.

Director Scott Elliott has handled this family drama well. Several scenes stand out, one between Alice and Theresa after the loss for her child is heartbreaking, a series of scenes showing Alice's anexity at the hospital when the child is strugging for life and then there is one scene where Horward leaves the children in a store of a mall and rushes to meet Alice in prison just in time for the visiting hours. Elliott has also shown the understanding and love between the couple quite naturally. Alice's dislike for her know-it-all mother-in-law comes through clearly. All young parents will easily relate to the tandrums their children throw at the busiest times of the day.There are some unrealistic scenes in the movie too. The women's prison seems like a smart hotel with concealed reading lamps next to the bed and the prisoners are dressed in neat and attractive clothes. What also hits you in the movie is the loneliness and helplessness of the family in difficult times. It's the typical social reaction that is encountered in today's society.

Sigourney Weaver and David Strathairn have done a fantastic job. Julianne Moore seems a little less expressive considering her tragic role. The pace of the movie is fair but you will absorbed in the story till the very end. Recommended.