A Map Of The World is a drama

Drama

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

 released in the year 1999, based on the novel of the same name

A Map of the World

A Map of the World is a novel by Jane Hamilton. It was the Oprah's Book Club selection for December 1999. It was made into a movie released in 1999 starring Sigourney Weaver, Julianne Moore, David Strathairn, Chloë Sevigny, Louise Fletcher and Marc Donato with a soundtrack by Pat Metheny.- Plot...

 by Jane Hamilton

Jane Hamilton

Jane Hamilton is an American novelist.Hamilton lives in Rochester, Wisconsin. She grew up in Oak Park, Illinois, the youngest of five children. She graduated from Carleton College in 1979 as an English major. Her first published works were short stories, "My Own Earth" and "Aunt Marj's Happy...

. It was directed by Scott Eliott. The movie stars Sigourney Weaver

Sigourney Weaver

Sigourney Weaver is an American actress. She is best known for her critically acclaimed role of Ellen Ripley in the four Alien films: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, for which she has received worldwide recognition .Other notable roles include Dana...

, Julianne Moore

Julianne Moore

Julianne Moore is an American actress and a children's book author. Throughout her career, she has been nominated for four Oscars, six Golden Globes, three BAFTAs and nine Screen Actors Guild Awards....

, David Strathairn

David Strathairn

David Russell Strathairn is an American actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for portraying journalist Edward R. Murrow in Good Night, and Good Luck...

, and Chloe Sevigny

Chloë Sevigny

Chloë Stevens Sevigny is an American film actress, fashion designer and former model. Sevigny gained reputation for her eclectic fashion sense and developed a broad career in the fashion industry in the mid 1990s, both for modeling and for her work at New York's Sassy magazine, which labeled her...

. Sigourney Weaver was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama.

Synopsis

Alice Goodwin (Sigourney Weaver) is a school nurse who lives with her husband Howard (David Strathairn) and two girls on a small dairy farm in Wisconsin. After the death of the daughter of her friend Theresa Collins (Julianne Moore) on Alice's property, the couple watch helplessly as the community turns against them. To make matters worse, Alice finds herself fighting charges of child abuse.

Background

Eminent film critic Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half out of four stars, praising the performances, and likening it to such movies as Being John Malkovich

Being John Malkovich

Being John Malkovich is a 1999 American black comedy-fantasy film written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze. It stars John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, and John Malkovich, who plays a fictional version of himself...

and Three Kings in "being free--in being capable of taking any turn at any moment, without the need to follow tired conventions". The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival

Toronto International Film Festival

The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...

.