Traveller

Released 1997
Stars Bill Paxton, Mark Wahlberg, Julianna Margulies, James Gammon, Luke Askew, Nikki DeLoach
Directed by Jack Green

Traveller, the directorial debut of veteran cinematographer Jack Green, takes us into the world of blood-related grifters who pull two-bit cons as a way of life. They are the "Travellers", a close-knit band of Irish-American nomads who survive by preying on the gullibility and greed of others. This movie tells the story of one such Traveller and the forces that lead him to question his position within the society.

Bokky (Bill Paxton) is near the top of the North Carolina Traveller hierarchy. He is respected by his peers, and the local leader, Boss Jack (Luke Askew), regards him as the son he never had. One Fall day, a young man, Pat (Mark Wahlberg), arrives to bury his exiled Traveller father in a Traveller cemetery, and is met with cold stares and harsh words. As an outsider, he is regarded with suspicion, but the Traveller blood in his veins runs true and Bokky agrees to take Pat under his wing. Soon, the two have become a team and are pulling off some pretty profitable schemes. Everything is going smoothly until Bokky falls for Jean (Julianna Margulies), one of his intended victims, and his loyalties become confused.

Summary by James Berardinelli

I watched a feature on these travellers once on some news program (60 Minutes maybe), and it was completely disgusting. There's a reason gypsies have been persecuted throughout the centuries, and it's because they're a disease. Most of them do nothing but rove around ripping people off. In this movie, they move through the south stealing from people who can't afford it, which makes it difficult to feel any empathy for the main characters. In a movie like this, you have to put your morality aside and let yourself be immersed in the world. That's always a tough thing for me to do when criminals are involved, but I try.

I like the fact they did a movie on these scumbags, but I think it was the wrong movie. These people are born into their criminal world, and that's all they know. The movie makes the point in the beginning that their society is completely isolated. They believe it's "us" against "them," and anyone who leaves the group is treated more harshly than the outsiders. All of this is true, but the story revolves around the main character's conscience attack and his love story with an outsider. Since they're indoctrinated into crime from birth, none of this rings true. A better story would have centered on the Pat character and his moral dilemma as he learned to view people as marks. From there you could have him emphatically become a con man only to see the effects of the scams, which would cause the eventual change of heart. They could also have worked in the love story between him and the boss' daughter if necessary. My point is I believe they focused on the wrong character, and the story just didn't work for me. --Bill Alward, April 10, 2002