Film Review: Julia Roberts Learns How to ‘Eat Pray Love’

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HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 3.5/5.0
Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Despite its flaws, the often-beautiful “Eat Pray Love,” starring Julia Roberts, works because it refuses to talk down to its audience. This is the rare “chick flick” that treats its demographic with respect, never becoming the sentimental or manipulative dreck that so many other filmmakers would have delivered from Elizabeth Gilbert’s bestselling memoirs.

As all adapters of first-person memoirs do, Ryan Murphy and co-writer Jennifer Salt faced an uphill battle when they attempted to translate expressed inner thoughts into external behavior. In written form, Gilbert was able to directly convey the feelings and experiences of the year abroad in which she learned to “Eat Pray Love.” With the narration gone, Murphy must translate those experiences and feelings into the actions of his lead, a few bits of self-help dialogue, and a nice monologue here and there.

StarRead Brian Tallerico’s full review of “Eat Pray Love” in our reviews section.

With that in mind, it’s undeniable that Murphy’s film boils complex issues down to their bare essentials. But, then again, doesn’t a book that simplifies learning experiences into eating, praying, and loving do the same? Whether you consider it a flaw of the source material or Murphy’s adaptation, some will see the film as surface-level, greeting-card sentiments about the difficulty of moving from one important chapter of life to another, but I think that’s a knee-jerk criticism that ignores what works about the film. With its handling of adult issues uncommon in the romantic drama genre, an excellent supporting cast, and gorgeous cinematography from one of the best cameramen in the world (regular Martin Scorsese collaborator Robert Richardson), “Eat Pray Love” works on its own terms. It’s not a full meal, but it’s a satisfying one.

The “appetizer” is easily the most undercooked section of this cinematic meal as the opening act is seriously truncated from what I’ve heard about Gilbert’s book and starts the film off on something of an inconsistent note. Liz (Julia Roberts) got married young and has reached a crossroads in her life where she realizes that she and her husband (an effective Billy Crudup) are going to take different paths. After a bitter divorce, Liz meets a hunky young stage actor (James Franco) but soon discovers that jumping from a long-term relationship into what is clearly a short-term one isn’t going to satisfy her.

StarContinue reading for Brian Tallerico’s full “Eat Pray Love” review.

‘Eat Pray Love’ stars Julia Roberts, Viola Davis, Billy Crudup, James Franco, Richard Jenkins, and Javier Bardem. It was adapted from the book by Liz Gilbert by Ryan Murphy & Jennifer Salt and directed by Murphy.

Eat Pray Love
Eat Pray Love
Photo credit: Sony Pictures

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