Traveller

REVIEW
An offbeat, often compelling independent drama that greatly loses its way by story's end, Traveller is a shaggy character study about a group of con artists -- or "travellers" -- making their way across the back roads of rural America. Paxton is a seasoned though small-time hustler who takes his young, estranged cousin Wahlberg under his wing as they swindle their way from one town to another. The film introduces these modern gypsies as an American subculture who are fearful of outsiders but who cannot live without them. Traveller is at its best when concentrating on the scam -- though nothing in the film nears the ingenuity or precision of The Grifters. Where that film had a marvelously paced tempo, director Green's debut feature is too lacksdaisical to ever truly excite. But a good cast brings conviction to their roles. the film's sloppy ending all but falls apart.