The theme is familiar and, at bottom, sophomorically self-conscious. Yet finally, World Traveler takes something like a hold on you because it extends the Crudup character's experience not only across generations but also across the genders.
World Traveler (2002)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:66
Fresh:23
Rotten:43
Average Rating:4.9/10
Consensus: Heavy symbolism and a repulsive lead character make World Traveler seems like a long trip.
Theatrical Release:Apr 19, 2002 Limited
Synopsis: Cal (Billy Crudup), is a man in his mid thirties, living in New York City, with a loving wife and a baby. But when he becomes frustrated with his family life, he follows his most immediate... Cal (Billy Crudup), is a man in his mid thirties, living in New York City, with a loving wife and a baby. But when he becomes frustrated with his family life, he follows his most immediate instincts--he gets in the car, and simply drives away. This straightforward yet shocking decision is the event that begins WORLD TRAVELER, in which Cal comes under the microscope of psychological observation. He embarks on a road trip that leads him down strange paths and introduces him to an eclectic cast of world-weary characters. Dulcie (Julianne Moore) is one of these people, an emotionally wounded woman who is desperately searching for her lost son. As Cal scans through memories of his family life, patched into the film through vivid flashbacks, he also absorbs his new, wholly unsettled, lost, listing life. Through his encounters on the road, and his conversations with the strange but fascinating Dulcie, he eventually finds a new perspective on his family life. Directed by Bart Freundlich, whose THE MYTH OF THE FINGERPRINTS carried a similar theme of looking at life with introspection through outsider's eyes, WORLD TRAVELER deftly uses the talents of both Crudup and Moore and allows them to propel the film into its nearly dreamlike crossroads between living life and just thinking about it. [More]
Starring: Billy Crudup, Julianne Moore, Karen Allen, Liane Balaban
Starring: Billy Crudup, Julianne Moore, Karen Allen, Liane Balaban, James LeGros
Director: Bart Freundlich
Director: Bart Freundlich
Screenwriter: Bart Freundlich
Producer: Tim Perell, Bart Freundlich
Studio: ThinkFilm
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Reviews for World Traveler
One senses in World Traveler and in his earlier film that Freundlich bears a grievous but obscure complaint against fathers, and circles it obsessively, without making contact.
Crudup's screen presence is the one thing that holds interest in the midst of a mushy, existential exploration of why men leave their families.
I was more personally affected by World Traveler than by any other film I have seen in recent months.
The movie, while beautiful, feels labored, with a hint of the writing exercise about it.
A meandering road movie that keeps getting stalled in gutters of self-importance.
It believes it's revealing some great human truths, when, in reality, it's churning ground that has long passed the point of being fertile.
But buying into sham truths and routine "indie" filmmaking, Freundlich has made just another safe movie. It's not horrible, just horribly mediocre.
Somewhere inside the mess that is World Traveler, there is a mediocre movie trying to get out.
Though writer/director Bart Freundlich's film ultimately becomes a simplistic story about a dysfunctional parent-child relationship, it has some special qualities and the soulful gravity of Crudup's anchoring performance.
The setup feels a little been-there-done- that, but the writing is often piercing and there are unsparing characterizations by Julianne Moore and James LeGros.
Basically the 'Flee Adult Responsibility, Find Freedom but Also Trauma Along the Highway' script that every film school grad student writes, but most of which thankfully never make it to production.
World Traveler might not go anywhere new, or arrive anyplace special, but it's certainly an honest attempt to get at something.
Not only does Freundlich give us little reason to care about his story, it doesn't even give us much motivation to stay awake.
Crudup is the best navigator a road movie like World Traveler can have, but even he can't single-handedly transport these goods from nowhere to somewhere.
It's clotted with heavy-handed symbolism, dime-store psychology and endless scenic shots that make 105 minutes seem twice as long.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 83% 83% | Harry Potter and the H… |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 75% 75% | Julie & Julia |
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
| 49% 49% | Taking Woodstock |
| 26% 26% | The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard |
| 47% 47% | The Girl From Monaco |
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