Off the Map
Manhattan Pictures International | Release Date: March 11, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
21
Mixed:
4
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Scott has the courage to let the imaginative story unfold at its own leisurely pace, and it's not surprising that the acting is excellent, considering that he's among the very best American screen actors. Read full review
90
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
A small masterpiece of tone and form. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
One of those sweet, intelligent, nicely made films. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Off the Map is visually beautiful as a portrait of lives in the middle of emptiness, but it's not about the New Mexico scenery. It's about feelings that shift among people who are good enough, curious enough or just maybe tired enough to let that happen. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Rambles without apparent purpose, and yet it blooms in emotional impact as it goes. Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
There's a collective scintillation about its rich, distinctive characters, narrative serendipity and ineffable magic. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
The movie's sense of place is hypnotic, but there's more to it than gorgeous images -- Campbell Scott's astute direction; Joan Allen's beautifully laconic performance; a sense of lively, if occasionally pretentious, inquiry into the wellsprings of art.
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
The funny and heartbreaking Off the Map, directed with a poet's eye and a keen ear for nuance by Campbell Scott, resonates with something rare in today's movies: simplicity. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Perhaps the most evocative movie of the new year, Campbell Scott's Off the Map, moves at the pace of a Southwestern sunset and ends before you're quite ready to let it go. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
This is a character study more than a forward-moving drama, plopped down with exquisite photographic care in a beautiful New Mexico desert, and starring good actors who make a feast of their flavorful roles. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Directed with an easygoing grace by Campbell Scott, has the feel of a coming-of-age novel. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
The people are just a little too calculatedly quirky in Off the Map, an otherwise engaging comedy. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
It's well-written, well-cast and skillfully directed in every scene, and, at the same time, it doesn't come together with enough impact to be hugely memorable. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderPatrick Z. McGavin
The plot is minimal, but the film is essentially an acting showcase. Allen is excellent. Read full review
70
Film ThreatDon R. Lewis
Any minor flaws Off the Map has are easily forgiven by great acting and beautifully shot landscapes. Campbell Scott does a great job of adapting a stage play (by screenwriter Joan Ackerman) to film as well. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Off The Map feels peculiar and remote, strangled by an air of arty disengagement. The most vivid characters are the earth and the sky, and they both give stellar performances. Read full review
70
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Campbell Scott's latest foray behind the camera most excels as a subtly observed study of how the dynamics within a close-knit family can shift over time. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen Holden
With a director, screenwriter and star who have deep roots in the theater, Off the Map is more than anything an actor's film. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
It takes a rugged survivalist mentality to sit through 108 minutes of Off the Map, a self-consciously loopy and mystical drama about a family that lives off the map, off the grid, off the land and mostly off their meds in the mangy desert of New Mexico. Read full review
70
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
A joy to watch. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarrit Ingman
Ultimately the film manages a warm, offbeat appeal despite its flaws, and it has real heart. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Surprisingly, it works: The overwhelming natural expanse of the New Mexico desert is perfectly balanced by the psychic space Charley and Arlene create - the space where all the real action takes place. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
Simmons plays it understated, conveying a sad-sack quality that's more relatable than Charley's irrational catatonia. The movie should have been about him instead. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
One of those American independent films with two chief points to recommend it: the earnest good will of its creators and its determination to be unlike any studio film. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
A beautifully acted if fairly poky coming-of-age story. Read full review
38
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
It's a disconnected, implausible story that aims for a tone of magic realism and falls short on both counts. Read full review
30
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Were it not so soporific, Off the Map could easily drive you off your nut. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Its story meanders and doesn't build, and the pace is deadly.
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