A Map of the World A movie that dares ask whether the belief systems of an honest but strange and uningratiating middle-aged woman can prevail. Two veteran X Files writers dish out more crypto-philosophical horror antics. The only devilry exhibited here is the flight of Roman Polanski's talent. The carpe-diem capitalist enterprise behind the kabuki camp of pro wrestling. Matthew Warchus directs this version of the Sam Shepard play.
Modest aspirations yield modest returns.
This candidly embellished biopic of Jacqueline Susann is an ideal diversion for one of those evenings when low expectations feel more like a state of grace than a surrender to vice. It's a dramatic film with a political agenda, but an agenda that calls attention to artists who choose to prostitute their talents. A black-hearted masterpiece arrives in time to salvage the holiday movie season. Generally artless performances and dime-novel plotting mar this Civil War film's stark beauty. Austin Chronicle Column Index Austin Chronicle Website Search Archives .