Hey folks, Harry here with another look at an upcoming film from Particle Man. Particle Man drifts in and out of theaters on the suction and push of opening and closing doors... Finding himself amongst lent and and hair on the topside cushions of seats. It's a big world for a Particle Man... and he does speak with spoilers, so tread softly in his domain...
by Particle Man
I suspect Scott Elliot is a better director than A Map of the World permits him to be. I suspect Scott Elliot suspects this as well, which is why the film frequently seems to be pulled in two directions at once. The story of a woman coming face to face with tragedy and her own intolerance for human frailty, this adaptation of Jane Hamilton's novel -- which had a limited, and presumably Oscar-qualifying release last year and will have a wider opening on 01/21/00 -- can't decide if it wants to challenge the intellect or pluck the heartstrings.
God knows, there's an overabundance of plucking going on in the basic story. Transplanted Chicagoans Alice and Howard Goodwin (Sigourney Weaver and David Straithern) are trying to make a go of it with their two daughters in a rural, Wisconson community, where he busies himself unlocking the mysteries of a small farm, and she struggles to hide her superiority complex while working as a school nurse. No surprise, her smugness is short-lived. We're not long into the film before the daughter of a friend, whom Alice is babysitting, drowns in the Goodwins' pond. Already regarded as outsiders by the locals, the accident pushes Howard and Alice closer to pariahood, and drives Alice into a depression from which she refuses to emerge. Her condition isn't helped when a mother to whom Alice had previously copped a 'tude accuses the nurse of molesting her son during an exam. Alice is arrested and imprisoned. Strangely enough, she greets this turn of events with an ominous complacency. "Didn't you ever want to run away to a desert island?" is the explanation she gives her lawyer.
If you haven't already guessed, the whole arrest, incarceration, trial, and verdict bit spells Metaphor with a capital M, and it's not the only formulaic element that A Map of the World lays on with a trowel. An earlier scene has Alice loudly threatening to contact the authorities over the irresponsible parenting of the boy's slutty mother -- they might as well have supered "IRONIC FORESHADOWING" over the visuals. Later on, the otherwise okay prison sequences are summed up with a bit of female bonding so mawkish that it wouldn't have appeared out of place in that Mad TV sketch about the Barbra Streisand/Women-in-Prison musical.
And yet, A Map of the World cannot completely be dismissed. Credit Scott Elliot: he took a look at what he'd been handed and decided to take a step back, telling the story in an understated tone that prevents the more blatent plot points from becoming unbearable. Credit the adaptation by Peter Hedges and Polly Platt: for whatever sins they commit, their script doesn't shy away from confronting the emotional repercussions of the Goodwins' ordeal. There will be no return to status quo for anyone involved: the damage is done, and the characters have no choice but to pick up the pieces as best they can. That's more dramatic authenticity than you usually get with these things.
Which still isn't enough. Nevertheless, it kept me from feeling as if I was drowning in syrup, and left me grateful that someone cared enough to slip even that glimmer of intelligence behind the suds. A Map of the World isn't standout drama, but I know I'm interested in seeing what Mr. Elliot does with more challenging material.
