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A Map of the World

R 1999 2h 5m Drama List
67% Tomatometer 55 Reviews 55% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
After a friend's (Julianne Moore) child dies while in her care, a woman (Sigourney Weaver) suffers severe depression and is later accused of sexual abusing a neighbor's son.
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A Map of the World

A Map of the World

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Critics Consensus

Disjointed storytelling overshadows noteworthy performances.

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Critics Reviews

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Emanuel Levy Variety Sigourney Weaver plays the boldest, most complex role of her career in A Map of the World, Scott Elliott’s provocative and unsettling but seriously flawed feature debut. Dec 26, 2006 Full Review Globe and Mail Rated: 3/4 Mar 19, 2002 Full Review Russell Smith Austin Chronicle Rated: 4.5/5 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Cole Smithey ColeSmithey.com Rated: 4/5 Oct 22, 2006 Full Review Betsy Bozdech DVDJournal.com A Map of the World is an actors' movie, and it shows. Rated: 3.5/4 Oct 21, 2006 Full Review Robin Clifford Reeling Reviews Rated: B Apr 9, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Alexandra H This is a difficult movie to watch, only because of the darkness of its themes. If you are triggered by the suffering of mothers, I'd suggest not watching. The two lead actresses—Sigourney Weaver and Julianne Moore—are terrific. All the acting is great. I stopped watching at a particularly dark time in the movie and had to meditate to restore my well-being. Actually, that's why I watched it—to get over something in the movie that triggered me. Meditation did the trick. Then, I finished watching it, which I'm glad I did. So, if the filmmakers wanted to help their audience gain more understanding of how to get through extreme loss and other misfortune, they achieved their purpose with me. I'm grateful to them and the actors and crew for persisting through and giving us this very meaningful movie. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/09/24 Full Review Jeff M The first half of this movie is really involving and well made as we are introduced to the characters and a plot that has potentially explosive drama. I would have loved to have seen the film focus solely on the idea of how a tragedy can the realtionship between two close friends. Unfortunately, as the movie proceeds, we are subjected to a series of events that would make a soap opera seem tame by comparison. As a result, the central story is muddied and all but forgotten. Weaver and Moore have one great scene together, but then their relationship becomes almost an afterthought with one more very brief scene at the end that feels tacked on at the last minute. Strathairn gives the best performance in the movie, and his scenes are the best in the film. We ache for what he is going through and the decisions he is forced to make. Weaver is not an actress of whom I am generally fond, and her performance here feels cold and occasionally histrionic. Moore isn't given much to do and actually disappears during a big portion of the movie. It feels as though the filmmakers spent too much time setting up the story and then rushed through the particulars creating an unsatisfying conclusion. I think a mini-series would have provided a better opportunity to explore all the characters and story lines in a more cohesive way. Lots of potential here, but the execution is lacking. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/11/24 Full Review Ronald H Young single people: Watch this one and you'll never get married and have kids. The mother (portrayed histrionically by Sigourney Weaver) is insufferable. Her kids are obnoxious little brats. Her husband (David Strathairn) is clueless. The entire cast is completely unworthy of sympathy. To make matters worse, considering the subject matter, the attempts at humor are incongruous and not the least bit funny. This is the film industry's version of domestic life: rich Hollywood actors pretending (badly) to be real middle class people. It's phony and contrived. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/13/24 Full Review Audience Member No real connection with any of the characters makes this a lot worse than it should be. It also feels like it's playing at sentimentality rather than delivering real emotion. The music score doesn't help. And the story meanders almost aimlessly for most of the second half of the movie Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Nudity, swearing and a lot of meanness. I didn't enjoy it much. Couldn't stand Alice, the main character but I'm not a fan of Sigourney Weaver. I haven't read the book ( don't really want to after seeing this) so I can't say how well it follows. The movie was mediocre at best Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review steve d Strong performances in search of a script worthy of them. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Read all reviews
A Map of the World

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis After a friend's (Julianne Moore) child dies while in her care, a woman (Sigourney Weaver) suffers severe depression and is later accused of sexual abusing a neighbor's son.
Director
Scott Elliott
Producer
Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall
Screenwriter
Peter Hedges
Production Co
First Look International, Overseas Film Group
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 6, 2018
Box Office (Gross USA)
$593.6K
Runtime
2h 5m
Sound Mix
Surround
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