Mange, prie, aime

Most people I know are going to see this film for Julia Roberts. It is that mysterious link that film stars create with their audiences. We develop a sort of craving to see them again. So a new Julia Roberts movie? Sure. Absolutely. I'm only a few years younger than Julia Roberts which means we have grown together. So, to see her play a woman facing a sort of middle age crisis makes you look inwards with a smile, the nervous kind. I must also say I'm a guy, heterosexual, but not fanatically so. I don't have the fears that, Jay Leno for instance, shows, when confronted by a "chick flick" If anything "Eat Pray Love" proves that men and women are not that far apart, we simply deal with the same problems in different ways. Here, the filmmakers don't shy away from the conflict and the balance is real. Julia's husband, played beautifully by Billy Crudup, accuses her of leaving the marriage without an explanation. He is the one with the broken heart. In Italy, Julia eats and our own gastric juices start to do their thing. I glanced at my watch, I was ready to run into the nearest Italian restaurant and have a relationship with a pizza myself. Italy, Rome and even Naples look so clean that I hardly recognized it. CGI? Luca Argentero plays Julia's tutor/tourist guide. He is a good looking guy that after appearing in the Italian version of the Big Brother reality show, he became a sort of local movie star and shows promising acting chops. Here, strangely enough, he looks small but charming all the same. India brings the wonderful Richard Jenkins and a solid piece of advise: "don't give up on love" Bali, well, Bali is something else and it is there that Javier Bardem comes into the picture and provides us with the best scene in the film. I'm not going to tell you what it is but let me just say that involves his son and gives us, finally, a side of Julia we didn't know how much we missed. Empathy. Feeling something for somebody else's feelings. I think I may see the film a second time just to see that scene again. I also should mention that James Franco plays a young actor - not what I call a stretch - considering he is my favorite of the young actors around. I will challenge other members of my sex to go and see it. Not to be afraid to feel identified or even chocked up. I can assure you it's not going to diminish you manliness in any way and will awake your appetites, big time.

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.

Altogether, the topic, the locations, the atmospheres, the acting made me enjoy the movie more than the book. I read the book and found it OK, but not like fantastic (almost like the Alchymist by Coehlo; sort of simple enough for anyone to understand, but deep enough for a lot of people to feel intellectual or in touch with new thoughts). But for the movie I had low expectations, based on the reviews - nonetheless I was positively surprised, though left wondering if most critics are just a bunch of sheep following a path (made by an old sheep who left decades ago)? And hence, obliged to hate any woman prioritizing herself?

The movie deals with a topic that very few (American) movies actually deal with - our inner lives and pursuits for balance and happiness. Maybe because it is difficult, as it is a somewhat stand still, internal journey. But EPL has made it possible by wrapping it into an external journey too.

But my main point adding to the other reviews: Some of the criticism of the movie is that the main character doesn't seem to have a good reason to be unhappy, and to leave her husband. However, what is dealt with in the book, but not comes across in the movie, is that she and her husband are to trying to have a baby, as is expected by "people" (and by her husband). EG discovers in this process that she is still not ready for children, in fact she never will be. She doesn't feel cut for it at all, and if she has a child, she feel she'll lose herself (her new husband got himself fixed before he met her, so there was never a question about it). To choose away what many women view as a deed to validate their existence; having children, is tough and scary. One will be judged. Also, she knew her husband's expectation of building a family was not unreasonable, making her feel ashamed and different. This is one of the key reasons for her to start praying; to be able to follow her own instincts, breaking the conventional norms. By excluding from the script this realization for the main character, the viewer is left puzzled with what is wrong in this marriage, there is something that doesn't make sense here. Too bad, leaving this issue out, as it would've added another dimension to the movie and increase the viewers understanding of why EG and her husband should split.

I can't help wonder why they chose to eliminate it from the story, whether it is because it would not appeal to conservative American women who after all are the majority of the box office customers for this movie? Or whether the movie creator thought it wouldn't make a difference? After all it made the whole lot of difference to the marriage, and was a impetus for her entire journey.