A rare film where the viewer can despise the protagonist and still not have a bad time. Which isn't to say I hated Elizabeth Gilbert as played by Julia Roberts--she's a bit egotistical, very intelligent, perhaps the perfect heroine for this oh-so Caucasian, find-yourself, liberal-America-goes-Kerouac fairy tale. What I'm saying is there is so much to explore here besides Roberts--consider the nuanced performances by Javier Bardem and Richard Jenkins, the sumptuous on-location cinematography, etc. A nice late-summer treat.

B+

A quite satisfactory adaptation of the book. The film version works primarily because of Julia Roberts, who is in every scene. She's charismatic and brings depth to Liz. The scenery is gorgeous and a lot of the film is definitely entertaining. Probably the main issue I have with the film is the lack of humor: Liz was more self-depreciating and humorous in the book, and it's almost odd they didn't include more of that with a relatively talented comedian like Roberts in the lead, but oh well. That said, I found it to be a good film with an excellent performance from Roberts. B+

Shut up, Trixie.

Eat Pray Love turns out to be a rather long slow wade through the shallow end of the self discovery pool.

Woo hoo for the woo woo.

In order to amuse myself during the slog, I ended up being an alien anthropologist studying the hollow characters in this artfully artificial world by gauging the level of strain on Julia Robert's face and the relative scruffiness of the facial hair on her leaden men. Triteness becomes a brittle reality that one ends up clinging to for dear survival to the seemingly interminable end to this dirge. It's happiness for the miserable - - a punishment.

The exotic settings do nothing to alleviate the dour proceedings - - you don't need to go anywhere to find yourself, but just like this movie, we may cover a lot of needless miles finding that out.

It's zen minus ten, or on my usual film rating scale:


1 out of 5.

I did enjoy it.

B

Eat Pray Love has beautiful sights and some very noteable acting but the script finds itself being too loose. Julia Roberts does a fine job in her lead role as do some of the supporting actors including James Franco and Javier Bardem. The film has some beautiful sights especially when in Italy. The biggest problem though lies in the trip to India which just seems off balance from the rest of the film. The film as well seems to throw the concept of finding out about one's self in the wrong way but coming up with the conclusion just as the film is wrapping up and not enough to support it. The ending as well was all too predictable for a romance angle. Though the setbacks are a decent number, the film still strives due to the cast and sights. **1/2

I changed my mind...

I did enjoy it a lot. B+

Did anyone see both the theatrical version and the Director's Cut that was released to Blu-ray/DVD? I'm curious if it's better.