World Traveler

You get something like "World Traveler." This movie rang so false throughout that it was sort of like sitting through a not-so-gifted recital of Rachmaninoff. There's mastery somewhere in there but you just can't see or feel it. And maybe the only mastery in World Traveler was the memories of the performances of the cast in other roles, in other, far better movies. It is unforgivable to squander such talent.

And the story held such promise! A man leaves his perfect life to freewheel it, booze it up, get laid, have no responsibilities. I like that story. That this writer/director took it no further than the surface is a mysterious shame. Why write this if there is no motivation given? Why waste our time like this?

This film was so unfocused, rambling and uneven that it was an effort to watch the whole thing. (I actually thought some interesting plot elements might develop.) This was nothing more than a "coming-of-age" film for the thirty-something generation. Total crap and I have no idea what Julianne Moore was doing in this since it was the only reason I picked it off the shelf at the rental store.

I'm a big fan of the different genre of sci-fi but my imagination has its limits. This movie stretched it too far when the hero/zero finds Julianne Moore sleeping in a bar, homeless, and picks her up for part of his journey. Friends, I've seen women sleeping in bars, I will admit, but none looked a bit like Julianne Moore. When will directors start using actresses that might not look like movie stars? How often does a guy pick up a passed out drunk girl in a bar that looks like that? If the hero/zero was confronted with reality, and what he would really find passed out in a bar booth, he probably would have run home to his wife as fast as he could. If I could take a road trip and find hot Hollywood actresses sleeping in bars, I would run away too! Unbelievable and somewhat boring. But decent acting could make it a hit for some people.

World Traveler's star is one of the best and most under-rated actors working in film today. Billy Crudup impresses every time out, but hasn't yet found the role that will propel him onto the A-list. Unfortunately World Traveler isn't likely to raise his profile. He plays Cal, a successful thirtysomething who suddenly leaves his wife and child in search of something intangible just beyond the horizon. On the road he meets people who force him to examine the painful corners of his life. Directed by Bart Freundlich, (Julianne Moore's real-life husband), the movie crawls along at a snail's pace, and never really exploits the energy inherent in a road picture – just being on the road with the top down and the pedal pressed to the metal. Cal is the typical `the guy who's trying to find himself,' but he is so self-centered that as a viewer I found myself wishing he would just get lost and never come back. There is some strong acting here though. Canadian Liane Balaban (New Waterford Girl, St. Jude) has a minor but satisfying role. The best work in the film, however, belongs to James LeGros who has a chance meeting with Cal in an airport. They knew one another in high school, and LeGros has been harbouring a grudge against Cal for fifteen years. In a scene that is almost worth the price of admission he unloads an avalanche of resentment on Cal, who listens and decides to change his life. It is a well written scene, wonderfully played by Crudup and LeGros, but not enough to carry the whole movie.

Billy Crudup stars in this slow moving film as "Cal", an architect who one day just walks out on his loving wife and son. What Cal is in search of we know not, but he is full of self-loathing for leaving and begins a drunken trek cross country. In his travels he meets a series of people who he treats like crap and then wallows in more self loathing and drink. The movie does end up with a moral; Cal realizes that he had it pretty good at home, but we don't realize this until we've sat through at least the first ninety minutes wondering where this movie and Cal, for that matter, are headed. Adding to the confusion are some flashback sequences that are never explained and have nothing to do with the ending what-so-ever. The only bright spot is when Cal meets up with Dulcie (Moore), and you think "Aha! I know where this movie is headed", and then it doesn't go that way at all. And that's a shame. Dulcie's story line is dropped just as the movie takes a turn towards being remotely interesting, and we are sent right back on Cal's boring journey. There is nothing redeemable in the character of Cal, and what he needs is a swift kick to the butt. Add to that a soundtrack that is ninety percent Willie Nelson songs, and you can see where a good shot of caffeine prior to watching this movie will come in handy. On an upnote, the cinematography was beautiful; it just should have been saved for a better movie. If you really need to be told that there's no place like home, watch "The Wizard of Oz" instead.