For a first-timer, Broadway wunderkind Elliott has convened an unusually pedigreed cast. Weaver fuses steely sarcasm and an au naturel sensuality that, to her credit, raise Alice above victim status. She's joined by theater stalwarts David Strathairn as her ball-busted husband and Arliss Howard as her swaggering lawyer, both of whom hold their own next to Weaver's tight-lipped indomitability. Yet for all the plum acting, the film falters under Elliott's clunky direction; the script, too, lords a disturbing class arrogance and pitches some unintentional eye-rollers, such as when the steadfast Moore, whose recent outings rival the Atlantic in saltwater production, blubbers, "It's amazing how much a person can cry." Just as amazing is how this potentially powerful Map can chart such a crooked course.