American writer-director Bart Freundlich is a master of existential angst. Armed with the exceptional talents of his actress-lover Julianne Moore, Freundlich had already shown he can explore the dark shadows of the human psyche without flinching -- with his feature-film debut The Myth Of Fingerprints, the story of children coming home for a Thanksgiving Day spectacle.

In his second film, World Traveler, Freundlich has his anti-hero drive coast-to-coast across America to plumb the depth of his own personality disorders, which include a debilitating self-doubt that threatens to ruin his life.

The anti-hero is a young, handsome, seemingly successful New Yorker (played fearlessly by Billy Crudup). He seems to have it all: Good job, gorgeous wife, healthy infant son.

But, on the morning of the boy's third birthday, the man abruptly leaves, abandoning his idyllic life and his responsibilities to hit the road in his car. He does to his family what he believes his own father did to him.

As he drives west in this aimless quest that is ill-planned and apparently doomed, he encounters other people. He interacts, sometimes for sex, sometimes for friendship, sometimes in a desperate attempt to understand himself by looking at his sorry reflection in their eyes.

So a parade of interesting actors in strong cameo roles marches across the screen: Karen Allen, Cleavant Derricks, David Keith, James Le Gros, Mary McCormack and even Canadian youngster Liane Balaban as a teen hitchhiker.

Only one encounter will profoundly change Crudup's thinking: Meeting the disturbed and disturbing character played so seamlessly, so exceptionally well by Julianne Moore. Few other leading ladies in Hollywood are courageous enough (or even have the opportunity) to go to the extremes Moore will -- and yet it never affects her star power.

In Freundlich's story, her extremes ratchet up the psychological stakes for Crudup -- perhaps to a breaking, or even breakdown, point. That might be to his greater good, and this is the crux of the story.

The interior landscapes of World Traveler are far more important than the exteriors, although the film plays with the road genre's cliches, such as the bogus idea that freedom can be found on the open highways of America.

But the film's often unlikable central character and his psychological claustrophobia -- in stark contrast to the expanse of land shown so beautifully on screen -- also means that World Traveler will have a select audience.

This is no typical summer movie. It is alternative programming, as its pedigree as a special presentation in the 2001 Toronto film festival would indicate.

This is also a journey that is as difficult for the audience to take as it is for the protagonist -- yet it's potentially just as rewarding.

(This film is rated AA)

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