At first glance, the Lemuel Lorca-directed film Broken Heart’s Trip seemed promising.
It started fine when the three coach-judges were together auditioning for their contestants in a reality show called Broken Heart’s Trip. The host is portrayed by Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) 2021 Best Actor and MMFF 2016 Best Supporting Actor Christian Bables. He has two female co-judgers, Tart Carlos and Jaclyn Jose.
The show features five participants who have one thing in common–they are brokenhearted. The show allows them to have the chance to heal from their bad experiences by going on trips to various tourist destinations across the Philippines. Stipulated in the rules–they must avoid falling in love for the duration of their stay in the game, and the last gay man or transwoman standing will win a million pesos.
Apart from Bables, Jose, and Carlos; other stars included in the film from a story by Lex Bonife and screenplay by Archie De Mundo–the other actors were: Teejay Marquez, Marvin Yap, Petite, Iyah Mina, and Andoy Ranay as contestants in the show Broken Heart’s Trip.
The film intends to help the five contestants triumph over their struggles and come to terms with themselves, which they have achieved, but somewhere I found it too much of a hard sell to deviate from a usual story that tackles ‘kabaklaan’ in general. Can they be insanely funny, but still as kick-ass in making their message come across their audience?
I am not sure what exactly was the vision for the film. Was it intended to be ‘serious’ as it tackles social issues that involve the members of the LGBTQIA+ and set aside the possible potential to be fun and hilarious at the same?
I miss Petite’s funny personality, which could reflect his character as the 35-year-old single dad who tries to juggle his time as an all-around online racketeer; and because of his undying love for the biological father of his child, a bisexual college boyfriend, who, in a twist of fate, marries his former lady boss. Mark is now the “mistress” of Poli, his ex-boyfriend. It could have been hilarious, but it maintains seriousness in fleshing out Mark’s character. I just thought so.
The contestants’ substories were treated too seriously, at least for me. Yes, there were attempts to be wacky like that character of Alex Valdez‘s ex-partner played by Jay Gonzaga, who swindled money from him. They tried to make him sound like an idiotic guy with a bucolic- accent, yet it came unnatural, somehow. What was his real motive? Why did he scam Alex? Nonetheless, Ranay as Alex, was “effective” as the tough competitor to beat Jason James (Marquez). While watching the film, I thought Markki Stroem or Tony Labrusca as Jason could have as much appeal as the formerly thriving box office actor.
The story concept is novel, but it lacks the luster. It showed potential to be Becky and Badette‘s rival. Again, maybe that wasn’t the vision of the creators. The appearance of Neil Tolentino as the arch-rival of Bernie Vargas (Mina) was a scene-stealer. Tolentino’s Noella Arida balanced out the seriousness of the film’s tone. I thought Petite could make a better Bernie, and the banter between him and Tolentino could have been much wackier. Mina, on the other hand, could be more effective to assume as Mark.
Broken Heart’s Trip has all the potentials to make good at the box office, yet there were actors mismatched to certain characters. The movie was losing its number of cinemas during the MMFF 2023 run. Why was it? Did the promo team end after the Parade of Stars in the CaMaNaVa area? The film could have been another potential hit for Bables as a lead star, but it failed to deliver.
Give it another Lorca-Del Mundo-Bonife creative minds combined with a much more aggressive approach in pushing their film, perhaps the collaboration won’t end up as an underdog as Broken Heart’s Trip.
