`MAP' LOCATES FINE PERFORMANCES IN WEAVER, MOORE.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

Alice Goodwin, the woman at the center of flawed new drama ``A Map of the World,'' is a real pip, a straight-shooter living in a farm community unaccustomed (apparently) to free-thinking women. So when we hear Alice berate a mother in the film's opening moments, telling her, ``Some people just shouldn't have children,'' it's a pretty safe bet that Alice is going to find herself haunted by her own words.

There are many haunting moments in ``A Map of the World,'' an often engaging, but maddeningly uneven adaptation of Jane Hamilton's well-regarded novel. The film suffers from a problem common to movies based on richly textured books in that there are just too many subplots to cram into a two-hour movie. Matters aren't helped by a screenplay (credited to Peter Hedges and Polly Platt) that is too often, by turns, confusing and conventional.

Sigourney Weaver delivers a knockout performance as Alice, a droll mother of two young girls, living on a Wisconsin farm with her oblivious husband, Howard (David Strahairn, in a role tailor-made to his muted sensibilities). The Goodwins are outsiders amongst the plainspoken farm folk; their only real friends are another young couple, Dan (Ron Lea) and Theresa Collins (Julianne Moore), who also have two girls.

The movie hints at some Job-like possibilities for Alice, and indeed, by the end of the film's first act, she finds herself in jail, estranged from her husband, from Theresa and from the disapproving community. But instead of pouring ashes on her head, Alice seems to revel in her new circumstances. She loves jail, likening it to a desert-island getaway. Her attitudes confuse Howard to no end, not to mention what it does to the audience.

And that's a problem. Stage director Scott Elliott is so determined to keep ``A Map of the World'' from veering into movie-of-the-week territory that he often fails to adequately explain his characters' motivations. That quality certainly keeps the story unpredictable, but plausibility suffers as a result. Erratic behavior can only explain so much.

Such uneven material can be rescued by a talented cast, and Moore and Weaver are more than up to the challenge. Weaver thoroughly inhabits Alice, and the role gives her a chance to display a sardonic edge that we haven't seen enough through her long career. Moore is brilliant as ever, evocatively showing her character's ability to forgive and move forward.

If you can forgive certain lapses in character development and some rather abrupt changes in tone, these performances might make this ``Map'' worth surveying.

The facts

The film: ``A Map of the World'' (R; nudity, language, sexual situations).

The stars: Sigourney Weaver, Julianne Moore, David Strathairn, Ron Lea.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Scott Elliott. Screenplay by Peter Hedges and Polly Platt (based on the novel by Jane Hamilton). Released by First Look Pictures.

Running time: Two hours, five minutes.

Playing: Opens for a one-week Oscar-qualifying run at Laemmle's Music Hall in Beverly Hills. Full theatrical run begins Jan. 21

Our rating: Two and one half stars.

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Photo

Photo: In ``A Map of the World,'' Sigourney Weaver and David Strathairn play a couple who don't fit in with their farm-country neighbors.