just watch it!

Best movie of this year hands down!

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

For some years now, Val Kilmer's presence in a movie, especially when he receives top billing, almost guarantees "B" status. But I thought "The Travel(l)er" had a nifty premise, so I decided to give it a chance. And it's not all bad: director Michael Oblowitz establishes some atmosphere in the first half, and most of the acting is decent to good (especially from Dylan Neal). But Kilmer is miscast as a mysterious, powerful, all-knowing character, and some fake-looking extreme gore in the second half spoils the atmosphere. This story would have worked better as a "Twilight Zone" episode - it's too long at 92 minutes. ** out of 4.

The Three Acts: The initial tableaux: The film starts with a short depiction of the abduction of a young girl by an out-of- focus kidnapper.We jump forward a year to the present day on a rainy Christmas Eve night. Desk Sargeant Gulloy is a fussy man who is the omega male of the group at the Sheriff's station. He does not care for the loud, foul, disgusting speech of his coworkers at the station, or their generally inconsiderate actions, like leaving the door open for the cold and rain to flow in, canceling the central heating. His passive aggressive approach clashes with the classless alphas early and often.The interactions of the four deputies are primitive and adolescent. Evidently psych tests were not required to obtain their jobs. Detective Black is the father of Mary, the girl abducted in the first scene.To complete the initial scenery, Mr Nobody enters the station, and tells Gulloy that he would like to confess to murder. The state cops come by to tell them that they are going to close down the off ramp from the Interstate due to a major accident. The station will be more isolated than usual, and many things are not working due to the holiday. That's where we are when the action of the story begins.Delineation of conflicts: The deputies and the desk sergeant despise each other. The detective's wife is phasing into a breakup with him. The detective is held in contempt by the deputies since he was promoted over them to detective. The detective is in a depressed phase since he has not been able to solve his daughter's disappearance.Mr Nobody is not especially compliant with the orders of the cops. Clearly, he holds them in contempt, and the cops are not happy with his lack of obedience.Have they already met Mr Nobody? Will any of them get a bit of closure about their failed pursuit of Mary's murderer?Resolution: The police think they have a confessed murderer. Only late in the film do they realise that his confessions are to their detriment.

For months I wanted to watch this movie but because I am a true fan of these reviews and trust them (I usually don't watch them if they receive at a least a 5.5 rating or better), I never watched it based on the low (4.0) score. However, out of boredom I ended up watching it on Netflix and truly enjoyed it. From the moment the "stranger" walked in the door, the movie keeps you on the edge of your seat. It was interesting all the way through. The message throughout the movie was one that was relatable and it really made me think about treating others right and not judging others. Although the ending was not to my liking, I must say that this was a good movie. I would definitely watch it again! Just give it a chance.

I read some of the reviews first and it is like almost all horror/thrillers, most people don't really like them. Not all are going to be on the par of winning Oscars and how many ever do??? This one I classify as a paranormal thriller rather than hardcore horror even though there was some blood and guts to it. People should quit comparing movies to each other because you will find similarities to other movies because so many have been made. It's not important to a review. I did not think Val's performance was bad in fact he was what I liked most about the movie. He played it perfectly as he always does. The supporting cast was fine. Most of them had small parts so there was no way for them to stand out much except Black.Someone mentioned the photo of the little girl. This is only a guess because they don't really tell you but her father had been there. He is most likely the one who took the picture and I think he stepped away to the car or somewhere else momentarily to come back and find her missing. The whole movie had a really eerie feel and it left me thinking WOW. Even though it looked lower budget I thought for the genre it did a good job. It doesn't deserved to be rated a one or a two because it was better than that. The traveler and Detective Black were the focal points of the story and both of them did a wonderful job where there was little in the story to sustain it. There was only the run down police station, lonely and quiet on Christmas Eve.