The Art of Travel

Movie was a little entertaining, but nothing new in it.

So... guy who travels... so he travels... and??? NOTHING MORE!!! come on, he does not even makes a lovable character at the end of the movie, in the end you get more interested in other characters - what happened to them, not in him.

I didn't even get the idea - what did director wanted to tell us... I guess nothing. Would not watch this movie again, but still if you have nothing to do you could rent it, but I would not recommend you to go and see it in cinema, just not good enough.

So I give this movie 5 stars - mediocre. Not bad, but definitely not great also.

I'm reviewing this movie nearly 5 years after I saw it, so bear with me. "Why bother," you ask? Because 5 years later I'm still hard pressed to come up with a movie like it.

A real gem, though not necessarily everyone's cup of tea, "The Art of Travel" will appeal to those of you wanderlusting souls who can enjoy adventures in the simple act of getting on a plane and going somewhere new. There are no car chases, bank heists or torrid love affairs with hot supermodels. But since when have any of you experienced any of that? (If you have, then why the heck are you watching movies like the rest of us schmoes??)

Actually the story does contain some heavy action & suspense, possibly some good old Central American gunfire, but that's not intended to be the focus. On the contrary, life without hair-raising thrills can be every bit as adventurous and fun, and "The Art of Travel" shows us precisely that. I highly recommend it to young people who plan on traveling the world, as well as older folks who have never had the opportunity. This film awakens the adventurer in all of us. And don't get me wrong; it's certainly not boring. Like any good trip to a foreign land, every minute is packed with the unexpected. Hats off to the filmmakers for bringing the unique magic of travel into our living rooms.

This film is composed of elements that appeal to me but I was disappointed. The acting is journeyman quality and the cinematography is professional. The story is generally juvenile and poorly detailed, with some exceptions. Those good scenes made viewing less painful. The plot development tries, but fails to achieve a coherence and fails to allow the characters to become real. This leaves the movie as an 18 year old's fantasy of what he could do if he left his home town in anger and embarrassment and had hot chicks falling for him through a series of adventures while traveling on money provided by a cool dad living vicariously. The young hero accomplishes nothing on his own merit except for saving the trans-Darien expedition from a guerrilla band in a scene that rings so phony it would have worked better as a dream sequence. This is not a retelling of the universal stories of transformation through adversity or rites of passage. Although the central character grows a beard and looks older by the end of the movie he has not matured. Likewise, decent acting and production values have not created a mature or compelling film.

One of the better entries at Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, California. It kept me entertained throughout and also dealt with some consistently fascinating themes such as coming-of-age, maturity, personal growth, and freedom. The cinematography was beautiful, some breath-taking shots of the jungle, and yet always somehow managing to make us feel as claustrophobic and trapped as the characters we followed. A problem many independent films seem to run into is introducing something and then not tying it up, but The Art of Travel wrapped everything up and wrapped it up well, in compliance with both the story and believable character arcs. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I was able to see "The Art of Travel" during a private screening for the cast and crew at Fox Studios. I had no idea what this film would be about because the title suggests it might be a documentary. I was very surprised that it was actually a feature film and it hooked me within the first ten minutes! I could really relate to this movie because my family is from South America and I have traveled with them to many different countries. Sometimes as Americans we don't realize all the beauty that exists outside our country. I liked that this film sent a message to get out there and educate ourselves not by just watching the local news but by actually experiencing different cultures and places by traveling. Great movie!