Comer, rezar, amar

I loved the book. I thought Julia Roberts as Liz was fantastic casting. The trailer looked awesome. I smiled every time I saw it. Turns out, I loved everything about this movie except the movie.

Long story short, it's all of the arc of the book, without any of the passion. While never horrible, this film simply made me feel nothing.

I found the book soulful, moving, even transformative at times. The greatest emotion I felt from the film was hunger (for Italian pizza), thirst (for Italian wine), and an occasional dizziness due to director Ryan Murphy's apparent recent discovery of how to "pan." It was laughable camera-work throughout the first 45 minutes, and occasionally throughout.

The first 1/2 hour of the film was almost unbearably bad, even though the first section of the book was amongst my favorites. Perhaps someone who did not read the book could enjoy this movie, but I somehow doubt it. One time Liz made a joke, that was a nice break from the feeling of being in a lukewarm bathtub for 2 1/2 hours. Not unpleasant, just meh.

Instead of finding Liz intelligent and thoughtful, she seemed selfish, boring, and obsessed with men. Instead of finding spirituality, she seemed vapid. When the character becomes shallow, a film centered around that character becomes a throw away. Maybe I'll just watch the trailer again.

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!

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 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.

All the pieces were here, great actors, beautiful cinematography, a fun storyline... but it didn't feel authentic, there was no heart, no chemistry. Very mediocre.