Not a bad movie, but not a great one either. There doesn't seem to be much of a point to this movie. I got this movie because of the box, I love road trip style movies. The acting here is great, but the story fails to deliver much; it is very predictable. I guess that I would say that the best element of this film is the scenery of the United States. They show the best of the best, from Wyoming to Montana to the beaches to the deserts. To sum it up quickly, the lead character, Cal, is looking for a better life and hits the road in search of it, but sometimes the grass is not always greener on the other side. From state to state and female friend Billy Crudup plays this role well. Julianne Moore also does a fine job with her role in this movie.

During the part of Cal's trip (with Julianne Moore) where he stopped at a state fair in Montanna, the song "You were only fooling but I was falling in love" was sung by a female vocalist. Could the singer have been KAY STARR?? Portions of the tune did in fact sound a little like her and then there were a few notes that sounded more like Patsy Cline.So I am betting that the song was not sung by KAY STARR. Anyone that can remember music from the 50's and 60's might offer up their thoughts on this topic. I believe that this recording was of another Country and Western singer. Overall, the movie was quite interesting but had a few discontinuities and unanswered questions, e.g., what was going on with Cal getting handcuffed as He gets off of an airplane in the first minutes of the movie?

What a waste of talent -- although it appears that Crudup in real life is a lot more like the vapid, self- absorbed, character-less character he portrays in this disappointing movie.In art, sometimes the empty spaces reveal more than the painted or created content. What this movie reveals is the unconsciousness and the contradictory/competing, unresolved impulses/consciousness of the film's director/writer. It unintentionally shows the LACK of awareness that a truly evolved, deeply aware character should have and be tormented about in order to deserve audience empathy or sympathy OR the lack of which is used to serve as a cautionary tale to the audience. But this film fails on either level in that regard.The fact that Cal, the main character (very much an ANTagonist, not a protagonist in the true sense of the word), has no empathy for anyone, especially those most deserving of it (which does NOT include him) and that he has such overblown, entitled, self-pitying, whiney sympathy only for himself, combined with the hallmark lack of remorse and no sense of guilt or awareness of his impact on others -- all converge in this film to make him the epitome of the self-involved, developmentally arrested, narcissistic sociopath -- somehow this is now the gold standard for males on film and in the world at this point and time. One of his counterpoints (James LeGros) states with a laser-true flash: "I bet you haven't done one good thing in life -- and I bet you won't". It captures the absolute essence of the Cal character. Something the other characters he bulldozes over in the film seem to realize fairly quickly despite the director having stacked the deck to manipulate sympathy for Cal. That is a testament to the supporting cast's talent and skills.Cal's eventual 'return' has nothing to do with character development, transformation or evolution of consciousness. It has only to do with the ultimate capitulation that until something better comes along, he may as well be back in his comfy cozy status quo of entitled enablement where the living is easy and no one will demand that he grow up--something of which he is willfully incapable and uninterested in doing.The film could have been pointed and intentional about showing the traps and tragedies -- the devastating effects of this kind of lack of conscience/ consciousness, but it excuses and glorifies it instead -- in fact, it wallows in self-pity right along with the arrogant, selfish, emotionally stunted main character.(and it sure sent chills up my spine when thinking of the recent revelations about convicted murderer Scott Peterson).If you want to see Crudup at his most nuanced and full of an exciting potential that has never been truly realized in my opinion, see the underrated 'Inventing the Abbotts' ....

World Traveler's star is one of the best and most under-rated actors working in film today. Billy Crudup impresses every time out, but hasn't yet found the role that will propel him onto the A-list. Unfortunately World Traveler isn't likely to raise his profile. He plays Cal, a successful thirtysomething who suddenly leaves his wife and child in search of something intangible just beyond the horizon. On the road he meets people who force him to examine the painful corners of his life. Directed by Bart Freundlich, (Julianne Moore's real-life husband), the movie crawls along at a snail's pace, and never really exploits the energy inherent in a road picture – just being on the road with the top down and the pedal pressed to the metal. Cal is the typical `the guy who's trying to find himself,' but he is so self-centered that as a viewer I found myself wishing he would just get lost and never come back. There is some strong acting here though. Canadian Liane Balaban (New Waterford Girl, St. Jude) has a minor but satisfying role. The best work in the film, however, belongs to James LeGros who has a chance meeting with Cal in an airport. They knew one another in high school, and LeGros has been harbouring a grudge against Cal for fifteen years. In a scene that is almost worth the price of admission he unloads an avalanche of resentment on Cal, who listens and decides to change his life. It is a well written scene, wonderfully played by Crudup and LeGros, but not enough to carry the whole movie.