Recent calamities that wreaked havoc to the Philippines have inspired many a movie in the indie scene. Just last year alone, there were Brillante Ma. Mendoza’s Taklub, Pepe Diokno’s Above the Clouds, and Chuck Gutierrez’s Iisa. By setting these films in typhoon-stricken areas, the directors were able to use disaster to motivate the characters’ action and consequently convey compelling stories of catharsis and survival. Unfortunately, this cannot be said of Ellen Marfil’s Lakbay2Love.
The character at the center of Lakbay2Love is Lianne (played by Solenn Heusaff), a videographer who has become lethargic because of heartbreak after her boyfriend Macky suddenly packs up and leaves for the United States. (Macky is played by Kit Thompson, whose manliness, according to the movie’s press kit, “can unnerve even the most confident woman.” I swear I did not make that up. I could not have made that up.) Prompted by her loud-mouthed best-friend-slash-one-woman-crew Monday (played by Patricia Ismael, because lead characters always gotta have that kind of friend), Lianne decides to make a feature about climate change that focuses on bikers. Enter Jay-r (played by Dennis Trillo), best biker in town, who immerses Lianne in the world of biking and helps her in her journey toward self-discovery.
The problem with Lakbay2Love is its apparent confusion in what it strives to be. It claims to be an environmental advocacy movie, though no environmental issue is in fact tackled. It is marketed as a love story, yet the love triangle conflict is so half-baked that, clearly, the movie is unconcerned about Lianne’s dilemma. (Then again, she’s choosing between Dennis Trillo and Kit Thompson, so it’s kind of a win-win, really.) What Lakbay2Love actually is is a 90-minute advertisement for biking. There is a scene where Jay-r lectures Lianne about the different kinds of mountain bikes and their price range, and later on, the movie shows an actual biking tournament, complete with the requisite montage of sponsors and popular figures.
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One commendable aspect of Lakbay2Love is its cinematography. The breathtaking terrains of La Mesa Dam, Timberland Heights, and Benguet are captivating in each frame, with several shots probably requiring the use of drones. However, the wide aerial shots display an evident disparity in quality from the rest of the film, which presumably cannot be helped at the current state of this technology.
The best bits of Lakbay2Love are the scenes that bookend it. The movie opens with scenes depicting Manila traffic and ends with Lianne riding away in a bike as the camera pans to luscious greens, as if telling the audience that much of the environment can still be saved as long as we start pedaling now.
