TRAVELLER
A film review by Chuck Dowling
Copyright 1997 Chuck Dowling
Traveller (1997) ** out of ***** - Cast: Bill Paxton, Mark Wahlberg, Julianna Margulies, James Gammon, Rance Howard. Written by: Jim McGlynn. Directed by: Jack Green. Running Time: 103 minutes.
I've read that Bill Paxton searched a long time for a project that he could both produce and star in. He finally found what he was looking for in "Traveller". I have no idea what was appealing to him about it.
"Traveller" is an odd story about a large family of Irish-Americans who live in the woods of North Carolina. Their only means of financial support involves driving around to various surrounding towns and ripping off hard working men and women. The head of this family is a man by the name of Boss Jack, a respected and feared man who never goes out on the cons.
Once, a "traveller" married outside the family (the horror!) and produced a son (Wahlberg). When that man dies, Wahlberg journeys to North Carolina to attend the funeral. He finds that he is not welcome, but insists on learning what the family is all about. Bokky (Paxton), one of the highly regarded members of the clan, agrees to give him a shot and takes him along on his next scamming trip.
My main problem with the film is this: who cares about any of these people? You can make con men compelling characters, mainly by having them involved in cons which they are ripping off other con men. But not innocent people. This film treats the people who are getting conned with such contempt, as the scenes showing them actually getting ripped off are done with an odd sense of whimsy, like its fun to break the law. Its a good ol' time, as Randy Travis music plays on the soundtrack and we watch the silly people lose their money and hopelessly chase after the laughing con men. Yeehaa!
Now, Paxton's character is supposed to undergo a change in the film after he feels bad about ripping off a bartender (Margulies). In the con (which I don't know if it's a common one or not, but if it isn't, then it's stolen from the 1994 movie "Deadfall"), Marguiles ends up losing her job. When Paxton comes later to apoligize, she gets all gooey and they fall in love. That would be my reaction to someone who ripped me off and caused me to lose my job. And so what that Paxton's character feels remorse? You'll notice he feels remorse for the sexy woman, I don't see him going back and apoligizing the the poor farmers he's scammed, or anyone else for that matter. And I could see women not caring for this film, seeing it as just yet another instance where the man has to come to the rescue of the airhead girl who can't think for herself. This seemed blatently obvious to me, and I NEVER think along those lines. So who does it appeal to? Most likely Bill Paxton's family, and mythical gangs of con men who live in the woods, if they ever get the chance to catch a movie.
Wahlberg also has his own subplot going, about being accepted into the criminal clan, but I really can't care about that either. And I still can't buy Wahlberg as an actor, as I keep expecting him to drop his pants and yell "Damn! Yeah baby! Come on come on!" Ron Howard's parents both have roles here as well, even though Ron Howard has no credited association with the film. [R]
-- Chuck Dowling Visit Chuck's Movie Reviews at http://users.southeast.net/~chuckd21/ Over 1,600 movies rated and/or reviewed! Movie news, film related links, and reader's reviews.
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