Now and then, despite the
blockbusters that thunder through the megaplexes and their accompanying bluster
and ballyhoo, amid the hype and hypocrisy of the advertisers and reviewers
(sometimes the same entities), a solid, modest, little motion picture threads
its way through the thickets of hyperbole and navigates the rivers of gush to
arrive at a theater near all of us.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The
belated appearance of Off the Map suggests that an independent low-budget film with the right connections,
employing some well known people, can compare with such genuinely obscure but
successful flicks as Clerks, Pi, and All the Real Girls. The film also demonstrates the value of entering
a title in one or another of the now innumerable film festivals that adorn the
public life of so many American communities.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Off the Map traveled the
festival circuit on its way to its local opening, including stops at Sundance
and the High Falls Film Festival here in Rochester, building an audience,
creating some valuable word-of-mouth publicity, and winning recognition from
critics and judges. Students and fans of the cinema should feel fortunate that
such a route exists for independent movies and that this community boasts an
appropriate venue for such works.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Directed
by Campbell Scott, the movie features some established actors — Amy
Brenneman, Joan Allen, and Sam Elliott — which indicates that the small
independent picture these days rarely emerges from the basements and attics of
diligent amateurs with indulgent parents or ingenious methods of scrounging
money and equipment. In actuality Brenneman only appears, without speaking, at
the beginning and end of the film; her real function consists of supplying a
voiceover introduction and some intermittent narration.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย She
recalls the events of a summer in her childhood, when at the age of 11 she
lived through something of a family crisis that changed her life, along with
the lives of her mother and father. Valentina de Angelis plays the young Bo
Groden, who lives with her mother Arlene (Joan Allen) and her father Charley
(Sam Elliott) in an isolated house in the desert in New Mexico, sometime in the
1970s. Her parents, hippies of a sort, without any visible means of support,
grow their own food, scrounge the local dump for various materials, barter for
needed items, and homeschool the smart, lively, inquisitive Bo.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The
chief problem for the family that particular summer is Charley’s profound and
inexplicable depression. Apparently formerly competent and cheerful, Charley
now withdraws into near catatonia, interrupted by paroxysms of weeping, and
neither his family nor his stolid and rather dim best friend, George (J.K.
Simmons), can alleviate his suffering. In classic fashion, an intruder, an IRS
agent named William (Jim True-Frost) enters their lives, initially to collect
back taxes, but ultimately, beguiled by their relaxed and carefree mode of
living, becoming something like a member of the family and a contributor to
Charley’s regeneration.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Despite
its attention to the surfaces of its subjects, especially the gorgeous vistas
of deserts and mountains and rivers, and the everyday life of the family, the
movie proceeds in the manner of a fairytale, a legend, a myth. Its eccentric
characters and offbeat dialogue echo the quirky plotting, where often events
simply happen without any particular explanation or causality. William first
encounters Arlene working naked in her garden, like some modern Diana, bonding
in some unutterable way with a coyote; his arrival somehow mystically coincides
with the spirit of nature the animal represents, and his subsequent vision of
the landscape inspires the art that will subsequently explain his presence in
the family.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The
limited cast all behave in accordance with the tone and rhythms of the film,
speaking their odd, often funny dialogue with the seriousness that comedy
demands, sinking fully into the eccentricities of the characters. Although Joan
Allen plays the central figure in the family, the person who holds everything
together, the absolutely charming Valentina de Angelis steals every scene she
occupies, playing the bright, precocious Bo to perfection, one of the great
kids in contemporary film. Sam Elliott, who usually plays strong, silent
Western heroes, here plays a weak, silent man of the West, who must be saved
through the intervention of his daughter and the inspiration of (of all things)
an IRS agent.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Off the Map demonstrates not
only the fact that independent film continues to thrive in America, but also
that some Hollywood actors will participate in a decidedly non-Hollywood sort
of production. The movie also shows the level of quality that an intelligent
director, working with an excellent script, can achieve, even without the sort
of wretched excess that the film industry almost requires these days.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย In
its pleasing unity, its charming characters, its offbeat view of life, the
movie constitutes a refreshing change from the usual thing, even something of a
minor masterpiece.
n
Off the Map (PG-13),
starring Joan Allen, Valentina de Angelis, Sam Elliott, Jim True-Frost, J.D.
Hawkins, J.K. Simmons, Kevin Skousen, Amy Brenneman; screenplay by Joan
Ackerman; directed by Campbell Scott. Little Theatres
This article appears in Mar 16-22, 2005.
