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Traveling Man

  • TV Movie
  • 1989
  • 1h 45m
IMDb RATING
5.6/10
120
YOUR RATING
Traveling Man (1989)
Comedy

A poignant comedy about a middle-aged salesman trying to get his life and career back on track while being pushed and antagonized by an aggressive rookie he has been teamed up with.A poignant comedy about a middle-aged salesman trying to get his life and career back on track while being pushed and antagonized by an aggressive rookie he has been teamed up with.A poignant comedy about a middle-aged salesman trying to get his life and career back on track while being pushed and antagonized by an aggressive rookie he has been teamed up with.

  • Director
    • Irvin Kershner
  • Writer
    • David Taylor
  • Stars
    • John Lithgow
    • Jonathan Silverman
    • Margaret Colin
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    5.6/10
    120
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Irvin Kershner
    • Writer
      • David Taylor
    • Stars
      • John Lithgow
      • Jonathan Silverman
      • Margaret Colin
    • 1User review
    • 1Critic review
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 nominations

    Photos

    Traveling Man (1989)
    Traveling Man (1989)
    Traveling Man (1989)
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    Top cast

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    John Lithgow
    John Lithgow
    • Ben Cluett
    Jonathan Silverman
    Jonathan Silverman
    • Billy Fox
    Margaret Colin
    Margaret Colin
    • Joanna Reath
    John Glover
    John Glover
    • Chick Beeler
    John M. Jackson
    John M. Jackson
    • Joe Blagdon
    Chynna Phillips
    Chynna Phillips
    • Mona Voight
    Paul Armbruster
    • LeBeau
    Dawn Arnemann
    • Cora
    Suzi Bass
    • Cafe Waitress
    Jerry Campbell
    • Lydell
    Marc Clement
    • Harry Palatka
    Diane Craig
    Saundra Dunson-Franks
    • Molly
    • (as Saundra Franks)
    David Dwyer
    David Dwyer
    • Hunt
    Christopher Ekholm
    • Bellboy
    J. Don Ferguson
    J. Don Ferguson
    • Riker
    Jennifer Hale
    Jennifer Hale
    • Joey
    Tori Horowitz
    • Diner Waitress
    • Director
      • Irvin Kershner
    • Writer
      • David Taylor
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      Margaret Colin's character is seen reading John Irving's novel The World According to Garp. She mistakenly refers to the character played by John Lithgow in the film version by the wrong name and his salesman character in this film corrects her.

    User reviews1

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    2/10
    HAS NOT A GRAM OF REALITY
    A worthy assemblage is gathered for this film produced for cable television, with some first-rate players and excellent technicians aboard under the guidance of a capable director, yet this work lacks those attributes necessary for artistic success. A primary cause for this failure, as is so often the case, is a tritely created script that apparently causes director Irvin Kershner to lose heart in the proceedings, as the action and dialogue are so consistently fanciful and undeveloped that there is little justification for his attending to details or trying to establish a point of view among the discontinuity from within the foolish scenario. As the eponymous lead is John Lithgow as Ben Clewett, a salesman of industrial foam who has lost some of his edge, resulting in his being paired by his district manager (John Glover) with a neophyte drummer, Billy Fox (Jonathan Silverman), but their initial road trip becomes complicated when it is apparent that Billy is trying to garner Ben's position as his firm's premier huckster. While the duo is in a New Orleans gyrating with its Mardi Gras, Ben meets a young woman, Joanna (Margaret Colin) and they unexpectedly fall in love as depicted in a series of unconvincing scenes, whereafter the veteran road hawker must decide if he should continue to pursue a vocation that continues to ebb, or run off with his new love to her home city (Seattle) to begin anew. Lithgow is pleasing to watch, and he tries to overcome his banal lines, but Silverman's capricious accent serves but to accentuate his miscasting as a man from the Deep South, while Glover is interesting as ever to observe, but should have been toned down as his lack of range in this role becomes wearing. Filming takes place in an Atlanta and a New Orleans that even the most privileged of tourists rarely experience, but happily effects of haphazard direction and uneven editing are salved to an extent by the score of Miles Goodman, whose idiomatic Dixie based jazz rhythms help to bring about faith in the genuineness of motivation within the tired storyline that simply is not there.
    helpful•1
    8
    • rsoonsa
    • Jan 23, 2004

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • June 25, 1989 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • El viajante de comercio
    • Filming locations
      • Atlanta, Georgia, USA
    • Production companies
      • HBO Pictures
      • Home Box Office (HBO)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 45 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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