Review: Based on the best-selling memoir βThe Naked Travelerβ (13 series, so far), Trinity, The Nekad Traveler is basically an almost plot-less re-enactment of how and why Trinity (the author) wrote her traveling journal. It is merely a hundred minutes of TraVlog, which surprisingly has enough drama to blur the main point of the book and enough travel quotes to pin in Pinterest.
Trinity, energetically portrayed by Maudy Ayunda, unravels her motivation of writing journals about traveling in her blog (and finally her books). Educated to be an independent girl since she was little, grown-up Trinity ends up being βthe one with most stories during family gatheringβ for her traveling hobby. Nowadays, sheβs paid to travel and write, but then, sheβs only an employee of a company led by Mrs. Boss (Ayu Dewi, practically steals the whole show) and she needs to get as many leaves as possible to travel. She has many dreams to travel to many places, therefore, she writes a bucket list. So, hereβs an βinspiringβ story of how to escape life and travel more to tick off your bucket list.
Going from one place to another is exactly how The Nekad Traveler spends most of the duration. Itβs basically an exhibition of idyllic places from all around Indonesia (and nearby countries) in 100 minutes. Trinity goes to Lampung, Sumatra, to preach a local boy that heβll regret things heβs never done than things heβs done; there, she distances βtouristβ and βtravelerβ βa big highlight of her whole tenure. Shortly after, she went to elephant conservation to meet another traveler, Paul (Hamish Daud), and brings up βuniverse conspiring theory.β Then, she returns to her office asking for some extra leaves which leads to another trip to Makassar, Celebes. Thereβs another venture when Trinity and her BFFs travel to the Philippines in order to prove that she steers the entire itinerary. On another occasion, she is invited to go to the Maldives with all the expenses settled by mysterious Mr. X. Oddly enough, those trips are on her bucket list.
During the first two acts, The Nekad Traveler, despite being fβed up in narrating the story, successfully delivers the traveling tips and motivation. Some romantic flavor is added to spice up here and there; however, it barely gives insight to the story or the character, instead, it feels superfluous, stale and forced. Then, thereβs a reflection about being too self-centered and ambitious during the third act, but it gives no resolution about that at all. In the end, the whole film feels so apathetic.
Maudy Ayunda as Trinity obviously adds energy injection to the weak plot; but, same as her character, her performance is too dominating the hundred-minute journey. Hamish Daud, whom I thought, couldβve provided a deeper character catalyst to the main character, ends up being underused, but being eye-candy. Ayu Dewi, as Mrs. Boss, practically becomes the ultimate screen-stealer with all her puns and inexplicable behavior. In the end, itβs difficult to get invested in characters or plot.
Idyllic visuals from the traveling spots become the only thing that Iβve cared for; before finally, it gets tiring. Director Rizal Mantovani knows exactly how to craft beautiful βtravel stock picturesβ; he knows how to make those picture advertising ready. However, some technical glitch hinders the whole experience to reach its potential. Similar to some other Indonesian movies of the recent, The Nekad Traveler loves to use drone-camera to shoot aerial views; at some points, this method is able to beautifully capture the whole panorama, however, the outcome has never been good to get projected in the big screen. You can even know whether a scene is taken by ground camera or drone, simply because the outcome of the drone camera isnβt as sharp and solid as the ground camera. Itβs definitely an honest mistake.
In the end, Trinity, The Nekad Traveler, despite looking fun β especially for those who love traveling, is never more than an unsympathetic, uninspiring, and preachy travel journal. Itβs segmented to those who are prone to travel delusion.
Trinity, The Nekad Traveler (2017)
Comedy, Adventure, Drama Directed by: Rizal Mantovani Written by: Rahabi Mandra Starred by: Maudy Ayunda, Hamish Daud, Rachel Amanda, Ayu Dewi Runtime: 103 mins
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