This film has its conventions. It's a road movie that takes the main character cross country from New York to Oregon, meeting people along the way, each illuminating part of his journey. But it frustrates expectations because it gives us a character who is unsympathetic almost from the first scene and whose behavior is hard to understand and sometimes appalling. His inner conflicts are not spelled out for us. Instead, they are signalled by his agitation and heavy drinking, his strange dreams, and the film's fragmented editing. What accounts for his behavior becomes clearer in the end, but even then, the revelations do not exonerate him.

This is a case where watching the film again with the director's commentary helps you come to terms with a story that departs so far from movie conventions. And you can begin to appreciate some of the creative choices made, from the script all the way through to post-production. After leaving his wife and child, abusing another man's trusting friendship, and drunkenly seducing women he finds in bars, the protagonist ironically meets his match by trying to "help" a woman in distress, whom he discovers is far more distressed than he has bargained for. This failed effort at self-redemption further confounds our interest in him. And so the film goes until the journey reaches its end, old questions are answered, some issues are resolved, and choices are made that may be the right ones for a change.

The film was received less than enthusiastically by critics and audiences when it was released. It may some day gain more of a following and certainly deserves a higher regard. Billy Crudup, once again, shows a remarkable ability to live inside a complex and off-putting character. Julianne Moore (who for once is a director's wife on par with the other talent in the cast) and David Keith are excellent. The cinematograhy alternates shadowy night scenes and claustrophobic interiors with brilliant outdoor scenes and sweeping on-the-road landscapes that grow more striking as the characters move westward. The Willie Nelson songs on the soundtrack introduce an undertone of sweet sadness.

I recommend this film for anyone who likes road movies and stories that depart from convention and require a patience and willingness to accept ambiguities for the clues they reveal about characters' inner lives.