A Map of the World
Overseas FilmGroup | Release Date: December 3, 1999 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
7
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Stack
Sigourney Weaver is so daring and amazing, her veracity is at times painful to behold. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
An accomplished film that continually takes us beyond our first impressions of people and situations. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie is not tidy. Like its heroine, it doesn't follow the rules. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianDiana Abu-Jaber
The two lead actresses are exquisite in their divergent ways. Read full review
80
Film.comErnest Hardy
It's provocative and very moving, filled with some of the strongest performances of the year. Read full review
78
Mr. ShowbizKevin Maynard
Worth navigating for its refusal to play to the crowd. There's certainly nothing safe or sweet about Weaver's performance. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleRussell Smith
One of the truest-seeming movies I've seen in some time and as one of the most odd and haunting. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Weaver is superb in a movie as scary and provocative as the timely subject it explores. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
What makes this film truly chilling is the fact first-time feature filmmaker Scott Elliott and his writers somehow make every step of this descent harrowingly believable. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeJay Carr
Gives three first-rate actors a chance to stretch, and they do. Read full review
75
New York PostJonathan Foreman
All of the characters in this story of love, guilt and redemption feel like real people, facing real dilemmas, and you truly care about what happens to them Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyHazel-Dawn Dumpert
If director Scott Elliott falters, it's only in the spots where he tries to comment on her (Alice's) persecution without being complicit in it. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
Sigourney Weaver and Julianne Moore share their pain in a depressing World. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Director Scott Elliott, in his feature-film debut, is especially perceptive about what goes on at the edges during deepening family crises, literally at the borders of the screen. Read full review
65
TNT RoughCutDon Kaye
Weaver herself inhabits her character with confidence and passion, although she's inconsistent in spots. Read full review
63
USA TodayMike Clark
The movie Weaver has to carry has so many nagging imperfections that Academy Award attention looks like a long shot. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
If it's not one of the five best of 1999, it's a personal best for Weaver, and that's pretty good. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
This eerily dry drama bravely attempts to show, without resorting to the literal staging of contradictory scenarios, how much perceptions of the same situation can vary. Read full review
60
Film.comElizabeth Weitzman
There's not a single moment when you forget it's Weaver; she always seems to be inhabiting this poor character's soul for her own purposes. Read full review
60
The New York TimesStaff
Something disturbing has happened to this story en route to the screen. Read full review
60
SlateDavid Edelstein
Occasionally dissonant, but it's remarkably cleareyed. Read full review
50
San Francisco ExaminerWesley Morris
For all the blathering, heavy-handed pathos, we might as well be watching the Lifetime cable channel. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJessica Winter
Scott Elliott's palsied directorial debut, from a mine shaft-ridden script, is a sick joke, and Weaver's part in it screams of temporary insanity. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
All the right intentions but never overcomes the essential problem of showing what's going on inside people's heads. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneBarbara Shulgasser
Strangely unmoving. So what went wrong? Read full review
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