A Map of the World Movie Review 1999

Excellent cast; tough story, based on the novel by Jane Hamilton. Flinty would-be farm wife/mom Alice Goodwin (Weaver) hasn't endeared herself to her Wisconsin community. But she's a good deal more vulnerable than anyone suspects as Alice finds her life falling apart. Her neighbor Theresa's (Moore) daughter accidentally drowns while in Alice's care and soon after Alice is shockingly accused of sexual abuse in her role as school nurse, which lands her jail. Uneven script is part family drama, part prison drama, part courtroom drama, part melodrama, and all the drama doesn't necessarily make for a coherent movie.

Distribution

USA Home Entertainment, 1 W. Forest, Englewood, NJ 07631-4004, Phone: (201)871-1000, URL: http://www.polygram-us.com

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 125 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Tragedy, Women in Prison, Order in the Court, Marriage, Wisconsin

Screenplay

Peter Hedges, Polly Platt

Cast

Sigourney Weaver, David Strathairn, Julianne Moore, Ron Lea, Arliss Howard, Chloe Sevigny, Louise Fletcher

Cinematography

Seamus McGarvey

Director

Scott Elliott

Music

Pat Metheny

Producer

Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Overseas Film Group, First Look Pictures

Awards

Natl. Bd. of Review 1999: Support. Actress (Moore).