World Traveler (2001)

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

Director:

Bart Freundlich

Writer:

Bart Freundlich

Stars:

Billy Crudup, Julianne Moore, Francie Swift

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Billy Crudup	...	Cal
Francie Swift	...	Joanie
Nicolas Suresky	...	Leo
David Keith	...	Richard
Karen Allen	...	Delores
Cleavant Derricks	...	Carl
Richie Dye	...	Local Bar Bartender
Kaili Vernoff	...	Andrea
Margaret Devine	...	Andrea's Friend
Mary McCormack	...	Margaret
Liane Balaban	...	Meg
James Le Gros	...	Jack (as James LeGros)
John C. Forman	...	Dakota Customer (as John Forman)
Bert Miller	...	Dakota Bartender
Patricia French	...	Dakota Waitress

Storyline

On the day of his son's third birthday, without discussion with his wife or even leaving a note, Manhattan architect Cal gets in the family Volvo and starts driving. Marriage is suffocating him. His traveling seems aimless: stopping to work construction, drinking heavily, picking up women, thinking about his wife and son but not calling them. He sometimes goes across the borderline into fantasy as he imagines resolutions to his travels. It turns out that his travel West is not altogether aimless: he has a destination and some questions to ask. Once they're answered, will he remain the mythic restless American male or re-cross the borderline to return home?

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Plot Keywords:

body double | female nudity | road movie | urinating woman | midlife crisis | 

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Taglines:

ever wander?

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexuality

Did You Know?

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.

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Goofs

When Cal and the hitchhiker girl drove towards the Minneapolis airport, the weather was cold, somber and gray, and there was a light dusting of snow on the ground. Yet once in the airport, when Cal was talking to his old schoolmate Jack, the camera view out the window of the airport showed a sunny sky and lots of greenery, with absolutely no snow anywhere.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Cal: I'm sorry.
Joanie: No, *I'm* sorry.
Cal: No, it's not your... fault, it's mine.
Joanie: I should have listened to you. You said you didn't want to have people over. I just thought it might be fun.
Cal: Yeah, but I shouldn't have said what I said. You know that I didn't mean it.

User Reviews

Yawn. A road trip / finding one's self unbelievable snore fest.

I'm a big fan of the different genre of sci-fi but my imagination has its limits. This movie stretched it too far when the hero/zero finds Julianne Moore sleeping in a bar, homeless, and picks her up for part of his journey. Friends, I've seen women sleeping in bars, I will admit, but none looked a bit like Julianne Moore. When will directors start using actresses that might not look like movie stars? How often does a guy pick up a passed out drunk girl in a bar that looks like that? If the hero/zero was confronted with reality, and what he would really find passed out in a bar booth, he probably would have run home to his wife as fast as he could. If I could take a road trip and find hot Hollywood actresses sleeping in bars, I would run away too! Unbelievable and somewhat boring. But decent acting could make it a hit for some people.

Details

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 January 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cidadão do Mundo

Filming Locations:

Birmingham, Alabama, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$16,072, 21 April 2002

Gross USA:

$103,863

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$103,863

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alliance Atlantis Communications, Eureka Pictures, IFC Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1