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| DIRECTED BY |
| Bart Freundlich
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| STARRING |
| Billy Crudup |
| Julianne Moore |
| Cleavant Derricks |
| David Keith |
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Warning: Spoiler in Third Paragraph
The first half of the film looks like it�s all going to be about a confused married man�s alcoholism and sexual exploits rather than his search for �meaning� or purpose. If all this guy wants to do is cheat on his wife, then we don�t really have a very interesting film here. It doesn�t really look any better once he meets the next character � a pubescent young girl � and this storyline doesn�t really lead anywhere interesting either. However, things get a little interesting when Jack (a great, goofy-haired James LeGros) makes an appearance as Cal�s (Billy Crudup, who does well with what he has here) ostensibly cheerful former high school friend. This leads to a very interesting conversation between the two characters concerning their teenage pasts � Jack cares for it, and Cal doesn�t.
Freundlich has a knack for comprising beautiful, almost dream-like montages by overlaying them with soft music � the ones near the end with the helicopter aerials are particularly impressive. Comparisons to �Five Easy Pieces�, however, aren�t really warranted because that film is more about the protagonist�s buildup to the moment where he decides to just say �fuck it all� and leave, whereas this film is more about what the protagonist does after saying �fuck it all� and leaving. Robert (Jack Nicholson�s �Five Easy Pieces� character) is perhaps just as prurient as Cal, but not nearly as shallow because Robert also has a much greater element of depth and credibility. 'World Traveler' does, however, do a pretty good job of conveying the frustrating mysteriousness surrounding parental abandonment in many cases.
Cal appears to try to make something of this whole journey of his once he meets Dulcie (Julianne Moore) but that ultimately results in the predictable sex-and-desertion angle. The ending � with Cal�s confrontation of his father seems genuine enough, and if the film had gone about getting there in a more interesting way then it would have turned out better.
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