'Off the Map': Out of touch

It would be unfair to call "Off the Map" a bad movie. It is, in fact, a rather good and, at times, very touching in its portrayal of a small New Mexico family living almost entirely on whatever they can grow, hunt or scavenge. However, it is also rather unlikely that the average moviegoer would enjoy it. Without a clear plot, the film's scenes are driven purely by the audience's presumed curiosity about the cast of characters, who are at once unusual and familiar. Director Campbell Scott ("Big Night") maintains a slow and steady pace to complement the characters' lives, but the pace also means some are liable to fall asleep halfway through.

The film centers around the Groden family, whose independence from the world of 1974 is the primary justification for the movie's slow, quiet nature. The family may be poor, but they are far from impoverished. In many ways they are living the ideal of Thoreauvian independence and self-sufficience. Amazingly, the fact that they make their living through bartering wood and chickens, gathering materials from the dump and hunting local wildlife is left in the story's distant background. However, the physical environment maintains a strong presence throughout the film — the serenity of the desert is intoxicating and its simple beauty invigorating. There is no underlying environmentalist agenda or anti-establishment message present; once one gets over the initial shock of how they get by, it is the characters, not their environment, that prove to be the most interesting.

Joan Allen ("The Bourne Supremacy") plays Arlene Groden, the matriarch, a grounding center for all the characters. One quarter Native American, Arlene tries to hold the family together as her husband Charley (Sam Elliot, "We Were Soldiers"), sinks into depression. Through most of the film, Charley's dialogue is limited almost entirely to short phrases and grunts, despite Arlene's great efforts. A close friend, George (J.K. Simmons, "Spider-Man 2") is of little help. With a tired look that seems permanently fixed on his face, his naïve attempts to alleviate Charley's depression are predictably useless. On the surface, Arlene and Charley's spunky daughter Bo (Valentina de Angelis) appears less concerned with her father's problem, but deep down she hurts just as much as Arlene.

Ironically, the film's silent gaps and periods of seemingly inconsequential dialogue turn into the most revealing moments by providing insight into the characters' personality, the family's dynamics and the reasons for the family's lifestyle.

Guiding us through these events are intermittent, retrospective voiceovers from an older Bo. These voiceovers, read by Amy Brenneman (CBS's "Judging Amy"), spare the characters from having to waste time with plot explication in an already sluggish film. Yet the narrator also takes it upon herself to wax poetic on the events of her childhood. Not only is Brenneman's delivery of the odes unconvincing; but the words themselves are out of place among a group of characters that say the most when they're not saying anything at all.

In her younger incarnation, though, Bo is a positive delight to watch. In many ways she is the most sympathetic of all the characters. Bo's understandable longing to escape from her mundane, rural environment for a bustling life in the city makes her character more accessible. She is world-wise, witty and uncannily clever, often using grownups' perception of her youthful innocence to her advantage. As a testament to her gumption, she pens letters to candy companies complaining about infested, moldy and otherwise detestable products and politely demands they send her free candy to keep her from reporting them — the companies readily comply.

The final verdict: "Off the Map" caters to older audiences that don't mind long, meditative pauses and naturally slow progression. The film succeeds fairly well in delivering a lyrical tribute to a simple time, a peaceful place and a memorable family. "Off the Map" is currently playing at the Montgomery Cinemas at 2:15 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. on weekdays.