World Traveler

This film was so unfocused, rambling and uneven that it was an effort to watch the whole thing. (I actually thought some interesting plot elements might develop.) This was nothing more than a "coming-of-age" film for the thirty-something generation. Total crap and I have no idea what Julianne Moore was doing in this since it was the only reason I picked it off the shelf at the rental store.

I really enjoyed this entire movie. It is not fast paced, but that is appropriate for the story line. People who think it plods along may need more action, but that is their issue. It is not formulaic, not a flickering screen every 5 seconds. Good acting by all actors -- especially leading man Billy Crudup as the man who thinks he can walk away, and supporting actress Julianne Moore as a delusional woman who claims to be escaping from her husband. This is a tough story about a man struggling to handle being a responsible adult, who makes some terrible choices while searching for answers. I believe the character finds out there are no easy answers and nothing will help him fully understand "why." I think this movie speaks about the many people who at times feel like lost souls, trying to figure out how they ended up where they are and wondering what would it be like to just leave it all behind. Turns out you can't really leave it all behind because your past life follows you and haunts you wherever you go. I recommend it.

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.

This is a don't-waste-your-time movie. With all of the possible talent potential, why did they stoop so low? It isn't even interesting. Sure, there are quality films with unlikeable, narcissistic characters but this isn't one of them.There are no polite words to use in describing the main character. I kept it running while I read something interesting, waiting for it to get to the point, a point, any point. Never happened. Some have said that they liked the scenery. A travelogue or National Geographic would be more fun.I found it so uninteresting and pathetic that it is hard to even come up with enough to say about it to fill the required 10 lines of text for this review!

You get something like "World Traveler." This movie rang so false throughout that it was sort of like sitting through a not-so-gifted recital of Rachmaninoff. There's mastery somewhere in there but you just can't see or feel it. And maybe the only mastery in World Traveler was the memories of the performances of the cast in other roles, in other, far better movies. It is unforgivable to squander such talent.

And the story held such promise! A man leaves his perfect life to freewheel it, booze it up, get laid, have no responsibilities. I like that story. That this writer/director took it no further than the surface is a mysterious shame. Why write this if there is no motivation given? Why waste our time like this?