EAT, PRAY, LOVE 1/4
Sony Pictures, Rated PG-13
Pretty Woman meets Ugly American in Eat, Pray, Love, a Goldilocks and the Three Boy Toys gender reversal romp in which the woman—instead of the womanizing man—gets to be the one with commitment issues. And while this female free-spirit fling around the planet for high carb self-fulfillment is clearly in search of the chick flick demographic, the misguided message seems to be that hedonism is the new feminism.
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Julia Roberts is Liz Gilbert, a professional writer and depressed spouse who splits from her marriage on an impulse one day, leaving her husband (Billy Crudup) in a state of shock, because she’s revolted by his desire to be a dad. Liz’s aversion to dirty diapers, when observed at the home of her publisher who’s a brand new mom (Viola Davis), sends her into the arms of a younger stage actor (James Franco).
But following this second love-provoked anxiety attack—this one having to do with the way said boy toy neatly folds her clean undies in the Laundromat—Liz books it and goes off on a one-year flight from reality to… wherever, as long as it’s exotic and boasting assorted metaphorical pleasure palaces. How she manages to finance the hefty price tag on such getaways these days remains a mystery (though back in the real world, the outing which led to the Elizabeth Gilbert bestseller on which Eat, Pray, Love is based was premeditated and funded by a generous advance).
Eat, Pray, Love, with its pampered princess on constant display, is so utterly self-indulgent and disconnected from its surroundings that the movie ends up less about exploring new worlds than getting stuck in the protagonist’s overblown ego. And as this modern-day Goldilocks samples assorted hunks and finds them lacking for no discernible reason, Liz eventually settles on a Brazilian Australian in Bali. But the presumption her decision comes as a result of there being more in common with him than her other conquests isn’t the reason. The only bond these lovebirds seem to share is Sex, Sex, Sex.
Liz does learn a few things along the way about leading the liberated life, including mastering the art of guilt-free eating and embracing your inner fatty while being defiantly anti-motherhood and proud. But the tendency of Nip/Tuck director Ryan Murphy to depict the locals in foreign lands as caricatured backdrop while invisibilizing the impoverished millions of India so they don’t rain on Liz’s parade neutralizes any high-minded narrative notions.
Eat, Pray, Love: More like Me, Myself, and I.
Tags: Billy Crudup, Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert, James Franco, Javier Bardem, Julia Roberts, Movies, Prairie Miller, Reviews, Ryan Murphy, Viola Davis
This movie was such a disappointment… I was originally interested in it for the traveling scenes but despite the budget of this movie that was solely set aside for traveling, barely any of it was reflected in the movie. Most of it just seemed like a bunch of random scenes pasted together, they did not flow, and the main character (Liz) was so boring… I cannot finish watching this movie because I am sooo bored. Thank god I didn’t waste any money seeing it in the theaters!
God I am happy I didn`t read the book. Thank to you guys I will also skip the chick flick.
this review reveals only 1 truth to me…JEALOUSEY!!! Live and let live.
I know, I know, the movie doesn’t compare to the book, but this was the worst example I’ve ever seen. How could the miss the beauty of Bali…it should have been jaw-dropping. What about the SEARCH she was on. It was so light-hearted, haha she can’t concentrate for two minutes. I didn’t feel any pain, any loss, just globe trotting to find the next guy. The book was about her journey, the journey we all take and the missteps, but the movie was a loser, not worth the time or money. They lost a great opportunity to film an amazing adventure. She did need to find Jesus.
You hit this right on the head – its a movie about nothing but a pity party for her and for what reason….NOTHING!
Boo for PLAN B (brad pitt) executive producer
I knew this would be another ploy to get the public to like julia again! I for one cannot stand this actress. She needs to be left back in the 90′s because she is now has been! This movie is getting very bad reviews and I will not even watch it when it comes out on video for free!
I had high hopes for the movie based upon the book’s top reviews. But nothing in the movie was able to save it from itself. After the first 10 minutes, Liz, (whom Julia plays) comes off as a truly, self absorbed female. Never mind that her husband loves her, does not want a divorce, has not cheated on her, and the only thing Liz can come up with as a reason for the divorce is that they have grown apart (how shallow).
She immediately falls into the bed of a 28 year old, but figures out 2 minutes (I mean 2 weeks) later that they are not as passionate anymore, so off to Italy she flies in search of herself. Good for her, but pity Italy. Though the scenes from the streets, cafes, and restaurants in Rome are nostalgic, there is no great, Italian scenery to thrill the traveling heart….OK, maybe a couple of 2 second clips in Tuscany, but that’s it.
In Italy, she drinks lots of wine, indulges in plates of spaghetti, and learns that life is about living in the moment and loving yourself (yawn).
After 3 months of self indulgence in Italy, she’s off Calcutta in search of a Guru who will bring her peace. There she learns that through scrubbing floors, praying early in the AM to the Guru, and befriending an ex pat from Texas (who is also there to worship the Guru) that love and God are within yourself (oh brother).
And finally (thank God, because all this shallow soul searching is getting tedious) she leaves India for Bali to meditate at the feet of a medicine man and ends up in bed with a Brazilian ex pat who now calls Bali his home. If one thinks that finally, she has now found true love and inner peace, think again. After weeks of constant sex with several seconds of coming up for air, she leaves the poor, Brazilian schmuck to return to the US because she is afraid to commit (big surprise).
She does ends up choosing to stay with him and they sail off into the sunset together (eyes rolling up) but the entire way through this muck of a movie, I kept thinking that all poor Liz really needed was to find Jesus.