Without a Map

Only the people who made this movie could've voted it better than a four. A cliched, pseudo-indie, horribly written, poorly acted (especially by the leading man) waste of time.

This movie really surprised me. It was showing during a free trial of Starz at about 3:30 in the morning. It is interesting, engaging, intelligent, and surprisingly realistic. The performances are believable and naturalistic. I'm curious how the actors were directed, because there are some moments that are so well done (which is hard to find in a low budget movie) that I can't imagine that they were reading off of a script. The main character and Jamie, his love interest were especially good. However, the movie does have phony documentary style interviews intercut into the dramatic sections, which always kind of annoys me. Also, I didn't really care for the music or the ending. However, there is a lot in there that was really good.

This is a film about young twenty-something couples who are yearning for something better or just for something new. Story shifts from couple to couple as they sort out their differences and either plunge into new relationships or plug away at the old miserable one, but they all come together as a group of friends and acquaintances. Effective use of a third party person who acts as a sounding board so that viewers learn what's going on in each person's mind. Both men and women don't seem to know what they want in life. Main character is an author suffering from writer's block. Working out of Los Angeles, he has lots of distractions, including new roomates, two women, and an annoying leaf blower outside his house. Not much action, just drama that could be alternatively performed as a radio play and in less than 90 minutes.

Has anyone ever heard of this movie? I don't think it was released on video. But I tell you what, it's good. It won some award or something like that in the Los Angeles 96 film festival but it was never released in wide scale. With so many bad ambitious movies around, I wonder why people never had a chance to watch this movie.

It's about relationships in a 'Walking and Talking'\'Singles' sort of way. It has two beautiful young actresses and the dialogue is good, as well as the actor's direction.

If you like independent movies, don't miss this one when you have the chance.