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©Photo by Francois
Duhamel/Columbia Pictures
Julia Roberts in Eat Pray
Love.
by Alison Gang, Gazette
Movie Critic
Eat Pray Love
Directed by: Ryan Murphy
Running Time: 133 minutes
Principal Actors:
Julia Roberts — Liz Gilbert
James Franco — David Piccolo
Richard Jenkins — Richard from Texas
Rated: PG-13
Grade: ** (out of 5)
Single women in their 30s hate
one question more than any other: “Why aren’t
you married?” Rather than reply with a defiant
shout of independence, Eat Pray Love merely
repeats the question, and then shrugs.
Based on the best-selling memoir by Elizabeth
Gilbert, Eat Pray Love stars Julia Roberts as
the writer who leaves her marriage and the life
she thought she’d always wanted to take a
yearlong journey of self-discovery across Italy,
India and Indonesia.
In the book, Gilbert was able to successfully
translate this deeply personal, if
self-indulgent, quest by injecting a self-aware
humor and depth of insight that made you forget
how much you resent her ability to escape her
problems with a dream vacation (and likely call
it a business expense).
Though it’s not nearly as distasteful in this
regard as Sex and the City 2, Eat Pray Love the
film doesn’t quite hit the same tone as the
book, and it comes off more like a female
midlife crisis fantasy than a substantive search
for knowledge and inner peace.
As much as it shakes its fist at the globally
held belief that a woman must have a husband,
the Ryan Murphy-directed film still manages to
reinforce the notion by story’s end. To be fair,
the movie’s title, if taken chronologically,
makes clear where the story’s headed. But that
doesn’t change the fact that Gilbert’s story arc
is tied directly to getting rid of a man (Billy
Crudup), getting over a man (James Franco) or
falling in love with one (Javier Bardem).
Sure, she meditates at an ashram and visits with
a toothless medicine man, but that’s more like
window dressing for Gilbert’s undeniable
destination in the film — to fall in love.
It takes a few stabs at it, but the film doesn’t
leave us convinced that our main character
actually achieved what she set out to do — fall
in love with herself.
Because the film is divided into three parts,
the love story we are ultimately asked to care
about is almost as underdeveloped as the film’s
abundance of cultural stereotypes that pass for
supporting characters. In the end, Gilbert’s
romantic resolution feels like an obvious
inevitability, unworthy of the almost two and a
half hours it took to get there.
On paper, Julia Roberts is perfectly cast here.
After 20 years as a marquee star, Roberts is at
a transitional period in her career, making more
time for her family and less time for movies. As
she takes Gilbert’s journey of self-reflection
and transformation, it’s hard not to wonder
where Roberts’ career will be in a year’s time.
Though too thin for a character supposedly known
for eating well and often, Roberts still exudes
that movie star radiance. True, much of that can
be attributed to the yellow light that
continuously bounces off her golden hair, but
Roberts single-handedly carries the film and
makes it something you don’t mind watching.
Still, she never quite takes ownership of the
character, giving us more of a down-to-earth
movie star than a clever, self-deprecating New
York writer.
Amid the sweeping music, beautiful scenery and
bite-sized chunks of spiritual wisdom, you can
still find some of the genuine moments of
realization that made Gilbert’s memoir a
touchstone for millions of (mostly female)
readers. As an accompaniment to the book, Eat
Pray Love feels like a picturesque slide show of
a wonderful trip you just took. But considered
on its own, the film makes you feel like the
friend that’s forced to watch it.
For a complete listing of current movies
playing in the Hammonton area, click on
“Entertainment” and “Local Movie Listings.”
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