Eat Pray Love

Eat Pray Love is not the appealing romantic comedy it's being sold as. It's a dark character study of how someone loses themselves. Julia Roberts the queen of romantic comedies (another way to sell the film) is front and center as Liz, and she deserves a Best Actress nomination.

Roberts really brings Liz to life in both the enchanting ways and the dark ways. It's not the typical Julia Roberts performance you'd expect. The scene early on in the film where she prays for the first time is chilling. What makes Roberts so good is the fact she's a movie star, but a movie star with talent and range.

Javier Bardem and Richard Jenkins also play roles in the second and third act. They both have a magnetic connection with Roberts. Jenkins has so much fun playing his colorful character. He's the old guy you want to have long talks with. His character has a surprising arc during the last minutes of India. Bardem's Phillippe is charming, handsome, and emotional. Bardem yet creates another memorable character and a great supporting performance.

The story didn't sell me at first. As Liz feels confined, I felt confined and uncomfortable in the NYC scenes. They aren't bad, but a term I've used to describe this film before: dark. But, when she goes to Italy, lets go, and frees herself, I felt freed too. From there until the credits roll, the film doesn't have that problem but it's a big problem. I personally hold the director at fault there. He could've smoothed it over.

The cinematography is gorgeous, Roberts is beautiful with support from two stand-out men. What more could ya ask for? Be warned: this is a darker movie then the trailers may imply so it's not for everyone; 8.

I love travelogues and I'm a fan of Julia Roberts but, what happened here? I'm not sure in what period, time wise, it this set. The only turmoil seems to be in this very selfish forty-something. What about the rest of the world? She goes for a sort of journey of discovery in a world that doesn't really exist. Did I miss something? No wars, no economic crisis, no nothing, only the intimate qualm of a woman who I, personally, cannot feel represented by. I grant you I'm from another generation but, please! What is this. I loved the food and Javier Bardem and it is in fact the Bardem episode that brings some kind of recognizable something to the proceedings. So, let me recapitulate and ask you if we've seen the same movie...A woman facing an existential crisis and moves out from her marital abode without even having a discussion about it with her husband - a scrumptious Billy Crudup - then she has an affair with James Franco - who wouldn't, right? - but the Franco in this movie is just a plain reflection of the Franco from "Milk" just to name one title. The Naples presented here seems out of the mind of someone who's never been to Naples. I don't know what to say. I'm a bit puzzled and, I should confess, a bit annoyed.

I usually have a tough time with chick flicks, and it was with great chagrin that I learned that the Friday rental of the house would be Eat Pray Love starring (arguably the chick flick queen) Julia Roberts. I thought I would hate it, I expected to see a sappy tear-jerker with Roberts playing her usual character.

Exactly what I got. Roberts almost cruelly and certainly suddenly/without warning leaves her husband (Billy Crudup) to travel the world, visiting Rome to Eat, India to Pray, and Bali to Love. During her adventures she meets Javier Bardem, Richard Jenkins, and many others.

Won't lie, I enjoyed quite a bit of this. A lot of the film is Julia Roberts being Julia Roberts, treading no new ground and playing her usual boring role. But, I suppose, that was the point. The character she plays is boring and normal, and even when she travels across the world Roberts does little to show the changes her character experiences. Can't say I really liked her character, which provided a bizarre feeling for the entirety of the movie. Was I supposed to root for Julia? Who knows.

EPL has some remarkable cinematography that deserves noting. I was surprised it wasn't nodded towards at the Oscars this year; shots of all these countries are beautifully represented. The script lags the most in Rome, but really picks up in India and Bali. As I said, Roberts is an unsympathetic character, but each travel experience brings interesting characters. Richard Jenkins, undoubtedly the most underrated actors ever, shines in his role of Richard from Texas in India. Bardem is good as well, but that's not a surprise. These two are the bright spots here.

If you've seen the trailer you've seen the movie, but if you're not looking for that much I think you'll be as surprised as I was. Worth it for the cinematography and characters. Plus, for that Friday-night chick flick your girlfriend picks out, you could do worse.

I think this was the first Julia Roberts film that I ever hated. I wanted to leave the theater before she left Rome, but was with my wife. After the film I found out she hated it as much as me. We did chat a little and thought it would make wonderful parody film--- picture Will Ferrell as a husband who is fed up and decides to travel to three cities... and visit The New York Yankees; The Dallas Cowboys; and the Los Angeles Lakers, as a way to get in touch with his inner man. Along the way there could be lots of drinking, cheering and preying on women in bars and cheerleaders. My favorite seen in the film was the end photo where it showed her former husband looking happy in his new family!

Liz Gilbert (Julia Roberts) is a modern woman with a husband, a job, and a house. Then she divorces her husband. Confused and lost, she sets off on a quest for enlightenment.

Ryan Murphy wrote and directed this film based on the popular book. I don't know if there's anything especially offensive to me (moviewise) in this movie, but I don't find it involving. It feels very bourgeois. And it goes so slowly. She's so full of herself. Julia Roberts just doesn't give a sense of somebody in crisis. Can boredom be a crisis? That's what it seems to be. If there is one movie thing that I object to, it's the narration. There's nothing more boring than being told how unfulfilled you are in narration. It doesn't make the movie any better.