An Off the Map preview had brought my hopes high. I was hoping to experience a beautiful, magical, and intelligent movie. I had witnessed the remarkable screen presence of beautiful, eleven-year-old Valentina de Angelis, and hoped she'd turn out to have more to offer than looks. There had been, in the previews, beautiful cinematography of New Mexico desert and of Valentina – visual goodness that I wanted see more of. And there were also slow scenes with conversations that had failed to entice me. The movie did deliver all that, the good and the bad alike.

Bo Groden (Valentina), a charmingly precocious and active young girl, lives an unusual, isolated life with her parents on the desert of New Mexico. Her mother, Arlene, is a hippyish earth mother who gardens naked, grows all of their own food, and is the glue that holds the family together. Bo's father, Charley, has always been a strong, self-reliant man but has recently fallen into a deep, chronic depression.

Gardening is not just a hobby; the family lives off the land. They make just some five thousand dollars a year selling honey and handicrafts. Any other needed goods are made themselves or traded with their acquintances. There is no electricity, plumbing, or indoor toilet, let alone a television. Such isolated life is frustrating for inquisitive and intelligent Bo.

This is when a handsome IRS (US tax bureau) agent William Gibbs (Jim True-Frost) shows up, because the family has not filed tax reports for seven years. William is struck not just by the unique, strong personality of Arlene, but also by a bumblebee, and so he sticks around, partly due to his severe allergic reaction. By the time he's well, the enchanting, quiet desert life has made him realize his job as a tax agent isn't what he wants. Him showing up also starts bringing Charley out of his depression. The fifth and last oft seen character is George: a simple, dependable man, and an old friend of the family.

The acting is strong on all fronts, and the writing is clever. At times the goodness of the dialogue makes me want to clap my hands and jump up and down a little. But it just might be that all such occasions are when those words are spoken by Valentina, which detail always adds that extra magic to the lines. Valentina, namely, is very, very good, and so is Bo. The character is lovely: intelligent, inquisitive, imaginative, sweet, witty and above all supremely self-confident. I found myself hopelessly drawn to her.

Bo's imagination is charming. There seems to be no boring moment in life for her. She writes fake complaint letters to corporations in order to get free samples, or reads the Forbes magazine to the chickens, or, being the tomboy that she is, goes out hunting with her bow and arrow. She won't hesitate to add her insights into any conversation or start new ones with anybody. That, especially, is where I enjoy watching her confidence: she'll effortlessly lead the conversation where she wants without resorting into rudeness. At the same time she's a child with games and pastimes of children. She's a very intelligent character, but not perfect. When facing a major disappointment, she shows a beautiful temper tantrum with crying and screaming.

Sometimes people mention being especially impressed about how good job young actors do with their first full-length movie roles. I, however, find that is not unusual. I think people either have the inborn skill for acting or they don't, and while that skill can perhaps be honed, the difference that studying makes is small. Every one of the movies with the highest "young actress" scores in this site have their young actress performing her first big role. Could it even be that the first roles are so good for the very reason the actress has a fresh, uninhibited approach to acting? Valentina's acting in this movie is among those superb first performances.

The aforementioned slower scenes, mainly conversations, felt at times a little dull to me. The characters are all multi-dimensional, real and unique, but long, more or less aimless, discussions in the dark just aren't my thing. Maybe, more importantly, I was repeatedly thinking, "They could be showing Bo instead of this." With that thought, sitting back and enjoying the nuances of the scene was hard.

The movie is clever and disarming in a manner more common in independent productions – which this one is – more so than in big Hollywood ones. Despite its flaws, I was left with a very good feeling about the movie, only wishing there had been more of its star Bo. To the director Campbell Scott: more of this, please. To Valentina: where is your fan club?