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Movies / On DVD / World Traveler
World Traveler

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World Traveler (2002)

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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.

Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins

Genre: Dramas

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

[See More Credits]

Reviews for World Traveler

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; UK critics are listed first)
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eventually arrives at its heart, as simple self-reflection meditation.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Report Card | comment Comment
04/06/02
Ross Anthony
Ross Anthony
Hollywood Report Card

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.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
04/19/02
Rod Armstrong
Rod Armstrong
Reel.com

Freundlich's made [Crudup] a suburban architect, and a cipher.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
04/16/02
Michael Atkinson
Michael Atkinson
Village Voice

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.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
04/23/02
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

This episodic, quietly affecting movie is both gritty and poetic.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
05/16/02
Jay Boyar
Jay Boyar
Orlando Sentinel

A first-class road movie that proves you can run away from home, but your ego and all your problems go with you.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
04/19/02
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Shot like a postcard and overacted with all the boozy self-indulgence that brings out the worst in otherwise talented actors...

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Weekly | comment Comment
06/05/02
Sean Burns
Sean Burns
Philadelphia Weekly

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.

comment Comment
04/26/02
Jay Carr
Jay Carr
Boston Globe

Somewhere inside the mess that is World Traveler, there is a mediocre movie trying to get out.

Full Review Source: Countingdown.com | comment Comment
04/19/02
Larry Carroll
Larry Carroll
Countingdown.com

A poky and pseudo-serious exercise in sham actor workshops and an affected malaise.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
05/09/02
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

World Traveler might not go anywhere new, or arrive anyplace special, but it's certainly an honest attempt to get at something.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
04/19/02
Kevin Courrier
Kevin Courrier
Boxoffice Magazine

I, for one, hope Freundlich gets another shot at a feature. And if he gets it, I hope he proves he knows what to do with it.

Full Review Source: Nick's Flick Picks | comment Comment
03/19/03
Nick Davis
Nick Davis
Nick's Flick Picks

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.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
04/26/02
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

At its worst the screenplay is callow, but at its best it is a young artist’s thoughtful consideration of fatherhood.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
02/23/02
Maria Garcia
Maria Garcia
Film Journal International

The film's needlessly opaque intro takes its doe-eyed Crudup out of pre-9/11 New York and onto a cross-country road trip of the Homeric kind.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
04/12/02
Ed Gonzalez
Ed Gonzalez
Slant Magazine

The story ... is moldy and obvious.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
01/20/03
Ernest Hardy
Ernest Hardy
L.A. Weekly

Whatever complaints I might have, I'd take [its] earnest errors and hard-won rewards over the bombastic self-glorification of other feel-good fiascos like Antwone Fisher or The Emperor's Club any time.

Full Review Source: MovieMartyr.com | comment Comment
01/23/03
Jeremy Heilman
Jeremy Heilman
MovieMartyr.com

The most remarkable (and frustrating) thing about World Traveler, which opens today in Manhattan, is that its protagonist, after being an object of intense scrutiny for 104 minutes, remains a complete blank.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
04/18/02
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Anemic, pretentious.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
05/10/02
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post

God bless Crudup and his aversion to taking the easy Hollywood road and cashing in on his movie-star gorgeousness.

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
04/17/02
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher
 
 
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