Movie summary of Eat Pray Love by Michael The Moviegoer.
EAT PRAY LOVE = ***
“Help Your Self”
The movie version of Elizabeth Gilbert’s best-selling book “Eat Pray Love” is not easy to review. For those who can relate to its narcissistic nature, the film and the book are sure to become a beloved self-help/how-to manual. Relating to this material is key to enjoying it.
But then, even for those who don’t connect with Gilbert’s emotional rollercoaster ride, it’s hard to deny the top-notch quality of the performances. Julia Roberts plays Gilbert in one of her most accomplished acting showcases since “Erin Brockovich” for which she won an Oscar. Richard Jenkins proves his recent Oscar nomination for “The Visitor” was no fluke and well-deserved. In one long, un-edited scene Jenkins delivers the film’s most powerful emotional punch, stealing every bit of Roberts’ thunder.
But as strong as these elements are, the film still feels fractured. It plays like a medley of three short films. Upon leaving the theatre, I overheard many people simply talking about which ‘part’ they liked best. No part was the clear winner, but I couldn’t help but wish that all three parts somehow felt like one complete movie.
The true-story plot involves Elizabeth Gilbert’s emotional journey of self-discovery. After a failed marriage in New York City, Gilbert embarks on a year-long quest that starts in part 1 (eat) Italy, then on to part 2 (pray) India, and ends in part 3 (love) Bali, where she meets Felipe played by Javier Bardem. There’s no mystery that she’ll find love with Felipe as the film’s title is actually a spoiler for that. So when that moment finally arrives, it feels sort of anti-climactic and not in the least bit romantic.
Director Ryan Murphy is the man behind the “Glee” television series. That may explain why he’s become so comfortable with short film-like episodes. But this material feels like it requires a more epic cinematic scope to really work as a film. A good example might be David Lean’s “A Passage To India”.
I can’t say that I hated or was disappointed by “Eat Pray Love”. I just didn’t feel enlightened by it. I wanted a Yoda-like infused epiphany. But instead I got “Pretty Woman Travels The World”. Delicious to experience, but tomorrow I know I’ll be hungry again.
DVD Double Feature: My review of “Eat Pray Love” comes from a man who actually can relate to Gilbert’s emotional journey. Like Gilbert’s, my quest for self-discovery began in Europe. But it also stopped there. For me, Europe was my parts one, two and three. But I did cover a lot of ground. The UK, Scandinavia, France, and finally The Czech Republic. My favorite city was a little Czech spa town just outisde of Prague called Karlovy Vary. This was my Shangri-La. A few years after I visited there, Queen Latifah made a film there and it really put the place on the map. It was 2006’s “Last Holiday” in which Latifah learns she has a terminal illness and decides to spend her last days living it up, not in Italy, India or Bali, but in Karlovy Vary.
Michael The Moviegoer
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