neumu [ cinematronic ]




	World Traveler
	Bart Freundlich Billy Crudup, Julianne Moore, Cleavon Derricks, Karen Allen, James LeGros, Mary McCormack, David Keith, Liane Balaban 2001		A road picture with a listless, unsympathetic character as its hero, "World Traveler" feels like a place we've all been before — only now we're riding along with a guy we wouldn't want behind the wheel. It fritters away a high-quality cast in support of a torpid Billy Crudup ("Almost Famous") in the lead as Cal, a middle-class New Yorker who has a beautiful wife and child and a good job as an architect. One day, without a warning or a goodbye note, Cal just up and splits. He hits the open road, driving west, picks up a cute young hitchhiker (Liane Balaban), takes on a job doing manual labor at a construction site, befriends a co-worker (Cleavon Derricks), unexpectedly runs into a old schoolmate (James LeGros) and gets involved with various women (Julianne Moore, Karen Allen) along the way. Yes, Cal is looking for something that's missing in his life. When he finally gets to the root of his problems, it's tame stuff. And since Cal hasn't earned our affection, we find little pleasure in his breakthrough.