World Traveler (2001)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Bart Freundlich

Writer:

Bart Freundlich (written by)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

ever wander?

Plot:

After hitting the road a man encounters characters that make him realize the importance of family.

Plot Keywords:

Interracial Relationship | Interracial Marriage | Independent Film

Cast

Billy Crudup	...	Cal
Julianne Moore	...	Dulcie
Cleavant Derricks	...	Carl
Liane Balaban	...	Meg
David Keith	...	Richard
Mary McCormack	...	Margaret
Karen Allen	...	Delores
James LeGros	...	Jack
Francie Swift	...	Joanie
Nicolas Suresky	...	Leo
Richie Dye	...	Local bartender
Kaili Vernoff	...	Andrea
Margaret Devine	...	Andrea's friend
John Forman	...	Dakota customer
Bert Miller	...	Dakota bartender

Also Known As:

Le globe-trotter (Canada: French title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some sexuality.

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M (TV rating) | Iceland:L | USA:R | Australia:MA | Canada:A (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Birmingham, Alabama, USA

Company:

Alliance Atlantis Communications

Trivia:

In the first bar scene, where Cal loudly complains about his song not being played on the jukebox, the song he has selected is "Hard to Handle" by the Black Crowes.

Quotes:

Cal: Women are just different than men. They want different things. I mean, Jesus Christ, I don't want to see anyone for that many days in a row.

a good road movie about a non-dumb theme.

I'm not sure why this movie scores so low. Without knowing anything about it, I took a risk and rented it based on the cast of Billy Crudup and Julianne Moore. Both of them are very good, there are many supporting cast performances which are also very good. Simply put, the movie doesn't insult the intelligence of the viewer.

On the DVD commentary track the director mentions the resistance he got from many studio execs while trying to fund the movie, and he got lots of criticism that his main character (Crudup) was unlikeable. Seeing this movie while knowing that "hollywood" resisted mightily might lead to some insight as to the mindset of the power players. The main character has more of a human range of behaviors than seems comfortable to those who crave cartoon superheros.

I don't think the title is great. I don't have a better one, see if you do after you see it. "Father" should be in the title somewhere.