TRAVELLER
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1997 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
Bill Paxton, who is one of today's better character actors, has wanted all 22 years of his professional life to produce a movie in which he could also star. TRAVELLER is the realization of that dream and a perfect vehicle to showcase his acting skills.
Bill Paxton is a hard working actor who has had parts in almost fifty movies. Although he has only recently been able to receive star billing, as he did in TWISTER, he, nevertheless, generally raises the quality of any movie with which he is associated. (The main exception was has part in THE EVENING STAR. But, everyone was terrible in it.) His role in ONE FALSE MOVE and in ALIENS are the first ones that brought his talents to my attention. Since then I have seen him in numerous pictures with his small role in THE LAST SUPPER being my most recent favorite.
The travellers of the title belong to a close knit but large family whose members intermarry and who make their livelihood scamming the public. The movie TRAVELLERS is a character study set within the context of this semi-mythical group. (The press kit gives their history as people known in Ireland as Tinkers, but who call themselves Travellers. It then goes on to relate them to the gypsies. To what extent this group really exists in the United States is unclear, but the accuracy of the story has no bearing on the movie's appeal.)
As the story opens, honest faced Bokky (Bill Paxton) goes up to a house in a working class neighborhood in the South. He tells them that he has this top quality load of driveway sealer left over from a job up the street. He says he saw the holes in their driveway so he thought he would give them the sealer if they would pay just him a couple of hundred for his time. After he finishes and drives away, the rains come and begin to wash off all of the worthless recycled motor oil he has spread on their driveway.
After one of the travellers dies, the rest of that family of travellers take their trailers back to their home camp in the backwoods of North Carolina. The wise Boss Jack (Luke Askew) runs the base camp and arranges the marriages, usually at age sixteen. The traveller who died was an outcast because he had married outside the family. His son Pat, played by Mark Wahlberg, who was the creepy killer in FEAR, comes back with his father's corpse but wants to stay after the funeral so he can learn to be a traveller too. The travellers consider Pat a half-breed and therefore unwelcome, but Bokky takes pity on him and decides to mentor him.
As Bokky teaches Pat the trade, they run into Double D (James Gammon), who is a traveller from a different family. Double D wants them to pull off a big con, but Bokky says his little jobs are making him plenty of money.
Gammon plays a grizzled guy who looks like a skid row bum. Gammon, who has played small parts in over fifty films, gives a carefully understated performance, as does the rest of the cast. TRAVELLER moves slowly, but never drags. It just takes its time.
Eventually, Bokky loses his heart to a bartender named Jean (Julianna Margulies from PARADISE ROAD), but I'll not give away where that leads or what becomes of Bokky's and Pat's careers. Actually, none of that is important. This is a story not about what happens but about the characters themselves and with Paxton's marvelous performance, a story worth paying attention to.
Cinematographer Jack Green from THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY takes his first hand at directing in TRAVELLER as well as doing the cinematography -- both are easy going. Nothing harsh, well not much anyway.
My favorite minor character was Danielle Wiener as Pat's would-be girlfriend Shane. Since Boss Jack doesn't like Pat and since Shane is his daughter, Pat's chances with her are not promising. Wiener has this sweet and innocent smile and twinkling eyes that make her part compelling without many spoken lines.
The honky-tonk music of the film is pure fun. Producer Paxton describes the music as a variety of styles of the type you would hear on your radio while driving through the South. When he finished filming his movie, he knew the kinds of music he wanted, but he was completely out of money by then. His old friend Seymour Stein, a record producer, liked the raw film footage so much that he arranged to have a bunch of great young acts record the songs for the movie. The result adds energy, poignancy, and humor to the picture.
Come on in and sit a spell, for TRAVELLER is a slow moving but entertaining yarn. Without any special effects or computer enhancements, the movie contents itself with weaving a tale full of characters worth caring about. A small picture certainly, but a delightful one.
TRAVELLER runs 1:41. It is rated R for sexual situations, language and a couple of violent scenes. The film would be fine for teenagers, but not any younger. I recommend this simple story to you and give it ***.
**** = A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = Totally and painfully unbearable picture.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: April 24, 1997
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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