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Actors: Billy Crudup, Julianne Moore, Cleavant Derricks, Francie Swift, James LeGros
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about World Traveler |
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On his son Leo's third birthday, architect Cal is overcome by a restless dissatisfaction with his life. Without so much as a note to his wife Joanie, he drives out of New York City and heads west. Dreams haunt him. In one, his luggage is switched for handcuffs as he glimpses his family. In another, he sidesteps his son on a beach as if he doesn't exist. Fantasy blurs into reality as he encounters new people and situations. He tells half-truths about who he is. He imagines sending a little globe on a key chain to Leo, but actually just carries it with him. He phones home, only to hang up without a word. Passing planes and trains catch his interest. He drinks too much and flirts openly.
Cal settles into a construction job until a new co-worker's wife lambastes him for his lascivious, sexist influence on her husband. Moving on, he picks up a flirtatious young hitchhiker evading a problem of her own; but abandons her at an aiport in Minneapolis when he is sidetracked by an old high school acquaintance named Jack. Jack's friendliness dissolves into bitterness at Cal's unchanged thoughtlessness, selfishness, and promiscuity. He bets Cal hasn't done "one good thing" since he last saw him.
Cal picks up Duclie, a woman claiming to be on the run from the law for trying to get back her son from her estranged husband and his unscrupulous lawyer. Cal quells his urge to bolt from her problems, urging himself to do "one good thing." But she shocks him by proving to be even more delusional than he is. He flees to his father in Oregon - a man he has not seen for 22 years. Questioning Dad's lifestyle and reasons for leaving, he comes to see himself in a clearer light. In a moment of solitude by the ocean, he seems to rise and float above all the people he has encountered on his travels. He heads out again, this time with a clear destination in mind.
--vjm, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of World Traveler |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- present (2000-2010)
Inner struggle or disability
Yes
Struggle with
- midlife crisis
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric:
Yes
- emotionally unstable
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) average
Events of movie makes character more...
- caring
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Cynical sense of humor
Main Adversary
Identity:
- general circumstances
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
- Midwest
- Pacific NW
City?
Yes
City:
- New York
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
Movie makes you feel...
- concerned
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references only
- kissing
Any profanity?
- Some foul language
If soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE...
- Country/Western
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