World Traveler Review
by Jon Popick (jpopick AT sick-boy DOT com)January 4th, 2002
Planet Sick-Boy: http://www.sick-boy.com
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If somebody was bored and, for whatever reason (we're not here to judge), decided to make a dull, pretentious version of Jesus' Son, they'd come up with something like Bart Freundlich's World Traveler, a film that re-teams actor Billy Crudup and his Fuckhead role from Son. Crudup once again plays a man wandering around the country in an attempt to find himself, though his adventures here tend to be far more dopey.
Crudup (Almost Famous) is Cal, a thirty-something architect in New York City who, for reasons only a married man can fully understand, decides to ditch his great job, cool apartment, hot wife and three-year-old son after getting some kooky life advice from a diner waitress (Karen Allen, In the Bedroom). Cal feels, because kids often ask if he's a movie star (he looks like Joaquin Phoenix's benevolent twin), there's probably a much better life for him out there somewhere. It's sort of an early mid-life crisis, but certainly understandable since Americans are always in such a rush to do everything.
Cal hits the road, working odd jobs and meeting a bunch of people who are probably supposed to be interesting but aren't. They include, but are not limited to, a henpecked construction worker (Cleavant Derricks, Sliders); a conceited ex-classmate and former nemesis (James LeGros, Ally McBeal); and a drunk, scatterbrained nutter in search of her son (Julianne Moore, The Shipping News). The latter becomes Cal's focus as he decides his life will be worth returning to if he can just do one good thing for somebody else (a la Amélie).
Traveler seems way longer than its modest 103-minute running time, but there are a few positive things in play here, other than getting to stare at the dreamy Crudup for almost two hours. The film's scenery is pleasing, as shot by Happy Accidents' Terry Stacey, and Clint Mansell's (Requiem For a Dream) score does its job nicely. But it's not nearly enough to offset Freundlich's boring story and dreary filmmaking.
1:43 - Not Rated
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