GeneSiskel This is a sweet movie, a gentle film. On the one hand it is a coming of age picture told in flashbacks, something like the Waltons transposed to New Mexico. On the other hand it is a counterculture picture, a slice of nude-gardening home-schooling bartering-not-banking art-loving don't-kill-what-you-don't-eat hippie life in the desert. Past, present, future, life, and death meet and are reconciled. Demons are exorcised, without much of an on-screen struggle. Life is affirmed and goes on. Memories survive. The actors are fun to watch. Valentina de Angelis, who debuted in this film as the young Bo, is adorable and an actress well beyond her years. Sam Elliott, who debuted in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (and later married that film's female lead Katharine Ross), is type-cast as a cowboy, for good reason. Joan Allen is a character actress with a broad range; here she functions as the hippie soul-mate of a lost IRS field employee played by Jim True-Frost. J.K. Simmons is also a versatile character actor, so versatile here that I did not recognize him in his role as George. This a very good independent film. Do not focus too closely on the resolution. Just enjoy it.

ejdewan Somewhere in the movie, a couple of owls hoot, and Angela says something like, "The Saw Whet owls are (calling) tonight" (can't remember the exact quote, and it may have been "Barred owls"). Well, folks, it wasn't Barred owls, and it wasn't Saw Whet (sp)owls, it was Great Northerns. I don't know if they frequent New Mexico, but they sure as heck wouldn't want to be confused with any other species! They are very territorial, and tend to drive the others away. My guess is that it was in the books, and they couldn't find a suitable recording (easy!), or they were just ignorant. (OOPS: That's Great Horned Owls, not Great Northern Owls. I keep making that switch in my head, and I don't know why. Mea culpa.)This is really stupid! When I submitted the above comment, the darn thing told me that it has to have AT LEAST 10 lines! Why??? I said what I had to say, concisely, so why isn't it enough? So here's some more lines, commenting on this dumb policy.

CDephedrine Sometimes a really good movie comes along, with characters that remind you of people you know (including yourself) and the ability to weave a plot around everyday life. This is one of those. The character development is its centre-piece and strength. Though it doesn't say it's a "True Story", it depicts truth and you know you've been there before with some of the scenes. A film for all ages - don't let the "nudity" warning put you off - This film depicts very real people is a very real country setting that is fast becoming something we only remember from our childhood. As the ocean of the past recedes, and the sky of future comes, learn again to enjoy the horizon of the present!

Renegade X 'Off the Map' passed the time, it was pleasant, it was sweet, certainly a little different to everything else out there, but by no means did I 'enjoy' it.Reading all the treacly positive comments here on IMDb, and looking at the IMDb ratings categorized by age & sex, it appears that this 'is a film for everyone' (though females in all age groups will like it slightly better than men of similar age). Yet I watched 'Off the Map' this weekend on DVD with 3 other people (so we were 2 males, 2 females), and who's ages spanned 3 IMDb age-groups, and we all came away from it feeling not only a sigh of relief that the film was finally over, but disappointed that 'that' was it.The film itself is decent: gorgeous scenery, pretty good acting, straightforward story, etc, etc. But the film plodded along so slowly that we all found ourselves looking at the clock to see how much longer before it was due to be over. And by the time it was about to finish, I couldn't even remember how we found ourselves in the flashback-that-is-the-movie to begin with!Not all that much happens in the film, and I'm OK with that. But what could have been done better perhaps would have been to show us a glimpse of life *before* the father's depression, a glimpse at the happy, active and loving family they we are told they once were. This would have contrasted well with the family that we found ourselves watching, and perhaps made us more sympathetic towards them. Bo, of course, has memories of the better days, which is why her recollection of the time in her life that we are privy to is so much more poignant. We could have benefited from the same.I had to laugh at the 'sexual content' advisory on the box (and the fact that someone commenting on the film here on IMDb bumped their rating up by 2-stars 'because of the nudity': there is 1 scene in which a 'live' breast is visible, and maybe 2 instances where we quickly see some nude sketches of the same person - none of which are sexual in context. And correct me if I'm wrong, but in all cases Bo, the young girl, is present (fully clothed at all times!).I wouldn't have mentioned it - except that it shows that people have a tendency these days to over-dramatize things. Including 'how good' this film was.On the bright side, I can say that I am thankful that Amy Brenneman's screen time was kept to under 3 minutes!This film would have been a good 'made for TV' movie. Regardless, if you haven't yet seen 'Off the Map' and are wondering if you should rent it, ask yourself first if you'd enjoy a nice relaxing evening watching a film on The Women's Network. 'Cos this film suits it perfectly.