Off the Map (2003)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Campbell Scott

Writers (WGA):

Joan Ackermann (play)
Joan Ackermann (screenplay)

Release Date:

4 April 2007 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

A Very Powerful Place

Plot:

An 11-year-old girl watches her father come down with a crippling depression. Over one summer, she learns answers to several mysteries and comes to terms with love and loss. |

Plot Keywords:

Depression | Countryside | Boat | Anti Depressant | Coyote

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Amy Brenneman	...	Adult Bo
Valentina de Angelis	...	Young Bo
Joan Allen	...	Arlene
Sam Elliott	...	Charley
J.K. Simmons	...	George
Boots Southern	...	Rusty
J.D. Garfield	...	Romero
Jim True-Frost	...	William Gibbs
Matthew E. Montoya	...	Store Clerk
Kathy Griego	...	Consuela
William Hart McNicholas	...	Interpreter
Timothy Martinez	...	Priest
J.D. Hawkins	...	Jack
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kevin Skousen	...	Don

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for nudity and thematic elements.

Runtime:

108 min (Sundance Film Festival) | USA:105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Brazil:12 | Australia:M | Singapore:NC-16 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Argentina:13 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Holedigger Films

Quotes:

Young Bo: You know what's really weird? When they send you a credit card and it's just in a plain envelope. You could so easily throw it away and not know it was in there.
George: Who?
Young Bo: I feel so bad for Mr. Gibbs. They completely stripped his car.
George: Who got a credit card?
Young Bo: It's just sitting out there in the desert like a corpse, like the vultures came and pecked out the eyeballs and everything! The radio, the seats...
George: ARLENE got a credit card?
Young Bo: Any news on that psychiatrist front?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Anatomy of a Scene: Off the Map" (2004)

Prozac Southwest

Worth watching, plain and simple.

I was torn somewhat between the precocious kid and the depressed dad. It was a little too much and yet the simple beauty of the New Mexico landscape offset their performance. A tighter conflict would have helped the pacing.

Everything seemed to balance itself out though, and most should find something to like about this movie.

I adore Joan Allen. She is built like a leading lady, looks, walks and talks like a leading lady yet is a great character actor as proved here. I had to look a little close to recognize her and I love that in great acting talent.

Sam Elliott, a veritable man's man, held steady. I think his effort was commendable though having been around persons afflicted with various types of depression, his seemed a bit vague, and uneven. It was like a functioning catatonia with bouts of chattering. I didn't get it. Since his mental illness was,in essence, the spine of the story, the spine was a bit bent. Still,handsome Sam is still watchable and worthy of our respect as he does not seem uncomfortable with his gray hairs or his wrinkles. Very anti-Hollywood.

Of the ensemble cast, I really enjoyed J.K. Simmons. Simmons who seems to have put most of the food on the table career-wise by playing nasties (especially in OZ) as well as disaffected authority figures, was refreshing as George, an everyman with a simpleness that was most enjoyable.

In closing, I think I would have liked the movie better if they had given proper treatment to the depressive issues affecting Charlie, Sam Elliott's character. Mental illness advocates might agree.

Still it was a bit like Walden Pond, New Mexico with more people.

Again, my criticisms aside, there is plenty to like about this. It's worth the time to watch this movie.