Julia Roberts tries her hardest to sell us on the notion of Elizabeth Gilbert’s despair: Her performance in “Eat Pray Love” is generally more searching than is the movie itself, and at 42 the actress has become agreeably seasoned in her approach.
But about the movie itself. “Eat Pray Love,” based on Gilbert’s bestselling Oprah-approved memoir, is an account of Gilbert’s yearlong spiritual quest after a divorce. She journeyed to Italy, India and Bali to find balance in her life; I assume she was armed with a book deal, already being an established writer.
I haven’t read the book; maybe this modern version of “The Razor’s Edge” has a little more depth and weight in the author’s own voice.
But as a movie, “Eat Pray Love” is pretty dumb. My usual question about this kind of story (please tell us where the money is coming from) is unanswered, except for the implication that Gilbert is wealthy because she’s a writer. Worse, the case of cuteness is severe: Aren’t those Hindu wise men just adorable!
In outline, it is difficult to argue with the intentions. Gilbert escapes marriage with a manchild (Billy Crudup) and an affair with a younger actor (James Franco) in order to find herself. She chooses three totally awesome places to do this.
I kept wondering what the movie would’ve been like if Bulgaria, Bangladesh and Angola had been Gilbert’s destinations, rather than the warm and wonderful spots she chose. (Presumably the Abu Dhabi of “Sex and the City 2” was out of the question.) But fine: It’s fun to imagine being in Italy and eating pasta to your heart’s content, and making new friends and drinking wine in the afternoon in a plaza.
Surely the book must offer more than studio-lit close-ups of spaghetti carbonara, or the breathless observation that Italians talk with their hands.
Same goes for a spiritual search in India. At least the fine actor Richard Jenkins (“The Visitor”) brings some snap to his role as a fellow American searcher.
And then on to Bali, where the adorable Hindu healer and a hunky Brazilian businessman (Javier Bardem, all charm) await.
One does not want to begrudge Gilbert her journey, but hoo, boy. The whole thing is just so fabulous that somehow it doesn’t come as a surprise that the film is directed by the creator of TV’s “Glee,” Ryan Murphy.
“Eat Pray Love” isn’t painful; with all the goodies on display, it hardly could be. But there’s something about taking a profoundly important subject — the journey inside, the search for meaning in an indifferent universe — and giving it the weight of a Vogue fashion layout that finally rankles. This is the New Age epic we probably deserve.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
