Lightdeossk Captivating movie !

Borserie it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

mlevans Some big films leave one dissatisfied and some little films leave one feeling very satisfied. 'Off the Map,' while living up to its title by easing onto DVD with no fanfare at all (Was it ever in mainstream theaters?), is certainly one of the latter.I doubt that it will connect with many 16-25-year-old males … at least not the ones who need sex, several explosions and characters morphing into super humans to be entertained. It is one of those quiet films where very little actually 'happens.' Of course, many of the better films in history, from Carl Theodor Dreyer's awesome Le Passion de Jeanne d'Arc to All About Eve and 12 Angry Men to The Big Chill and the Royal Tenenbaums, are essentially about people sitting around, talking, when one gets right down to it. Each tells a significant tale and tells it extraordinarily well. So does this little gem.Any film with Sam Elliott in it has a certain element of class. (He even lent a smidge of dignity to Ghost Rider.) He is magnificent here as the depressed Charley Braden. He is a man who has built his life and family on a survivalist creed that a man wastes time working for an employer. Instead, he should be learning skills he can put to use. He can fix anything, his family brags, and presumably this skill is bartered, along with firewood, plant care and other services. The family survives on virtually no money and home schools the narrator daughter, 11 or 12-year old Bo (Valentina de Angelis).The film depicts a summer (apparently during the 1970s or 1980s) when Charley somehow plummets into depression. His lovely and sturdy wife Arlene (Joan Allen) is pushed almost to the breaking point dealing with his condition. Meanwhile, Bo dreams of a "normal" life with all the trappings of the adult commercial world, briefcases, appointment books and credit cards, not to mention public school.Their world is transformed that summer when depressed IRS man William Gibbs (Jim True-Frost) shows up for an audit. He winds up staying almost indefinitely, taken in by the awe inspiring landscape and by the simple family – especially Arlene.The cast is outstanding. Elliott and Allen are perfect as the minimalist couple, who apparently have been happy and productive for years in their chosen lifestyle. As others have said, Allen's solid foundation holds the film together, just as her character does the fictional family. True-Frost does marvelous work as the displaced agent, who finds himself as a painter and becomes a family member. DeAngelis is perky and enjoyable as the precocious Bo. I can certainly see such a bright young kid who lacks some of the social graces of regular social intercourse with others saying and doing the slightly bizarre things that Bo comes up with. J.K. Simmons is also very good as Charley's loyal buddy, George.For a "talking" film to work it takes good cinematography and believable characters one cares about. This film has these in spades. The landscape shots are spectacular. (It's too bad almost nobody got to see it on the big screen.) The characters, meanwhile, are quirky and likable, and the acting is first-rate. Director Scott Campbell succeeds in telling a rewarding story of love, individuality and determination.I came away with a very satisfied feeling after watching Off the Map. It's certainly the best new film I've seen in 2009. For anyone who can appreciate a skillful and deep, yet simple film, this is a real winner.

rbk102750-1 Simply put this movie is about beauty: beauty of people, the land, simplicity and love. This is in my top 10 favorites of all time. It hit a chord and the cord was "Om."Sometimes less is more and this movie does a great job in showing the beauty in a Thoreauean manner.Like Charley (Sam Elliot) the movie made me cry and i cant say why. Perhaps it was shear beauty of it and the awesome landscape.Go see it with low expectations because it is not a "knock your socks off movie" but through subtlety, as subtle as the muted colors of New Mexico, I promise it will overwhelm you with it's power.

dr. mojave great little movie. having lived in new Mexico, i get it. a bit tedious at times, but well worth the investment. this movie has a big heart. i grew to love the characters. many people would yawn and give up. i like these kinds of movies that take time to develop (if there is a pay-off at the end). this movie paid off big time. Sam Elliott and Joan Allen are always great. Amy brenneman was a nice touch (i have enjoyed her since she played Faye moskewitz on Frasier). the girl (bo)was great too. she has great camera presence (like Andie McDowell). if manged properly, she has a fine future. - all in all, see this movie. it makes you feel good about life.

Renegade X 'Off the Map' passed the time, it was pleasant, it was sweet, certainly a little different to everything else out there, but by no means did I 'enjoy' it.Reading all the treacly positive comments here on IMDb, and looking at the IMDb ratings categorized by age & sex, it appears that this 'is a film for everyone' (though females in all age groups will like it slightly better than men of similar age). Yet I watched 'Off the Map' this weekend on DVD with 3 other people (so we were 2 males, 2 females), and who's ages spanned 3 IMDb age-groups, and we all came away from it feeling not only a sigh of relief that the film was finally over, but disappointed that 'that' was it.The film itself is decent: gorgeous scenery, pretty good acting, straightforward story, etc, etc. But the film plodded along so slowly that we all found ourselves looking at the clock to see how much longer before it was due to be over. And by the time it was about to finish, I couldn't even remember how we found ourselves in the flashback-that-is-the-movie to begin with!Not all that much happens in the film, and I'm OK with that. But what could have been done better perhaps would have been to show us a glimpse of life *before* the father's depression, a glimpse at the happy, active and loving family they we are told they once were. This would have contrasted well with the family that we found ourselves watching, and perhaps made us more sympathetic towards them. Bo, of course, has memories of the better days, which is why her recollection of the time in her life that we are privy to is so much more poignant. We could have benefited from the same.I had to laugh at the 'sexual content' advisory on the box (and the fact that someone commenting on the film here on IMDb bumped their rating up by 2-stars 'because of the nudity': there is 1 scene in which a 'live' breast is visible, and maybe 2 instances where we quickly see some nude sketches of the same person - none of which are sexual in context. And correct me if I'm wrong, but in all cases Bo, the young girl, is present (fully clothed at all times!).I wouldn't have mentioned it - except that it shows that people have a tendency these days to over-dramatize things. Including 'how good' this film was.On the bright side, I can say that I am thankful that Amy Brenneman's screen time was kept to under 3 minutes!This film would have been a good 'made for TV' movie. Regardless, if you haven't yet seen 'Off the Map' and are wondering if you should rent it, ask yourself first if you'd enjoy a nice relaxing evening watching a film on The Women's Network. 'Cos this film suits it perfectly.