Eat Pray Love

I feel like I'm repeating myself. Good book, disappointing movie.  In the book Eat Pray Love, author Liz Gilbert is honest and open about the collapse of her marriage, the depression that followed, and her attempt to find balance and meaning again in her life. Who hasn't read the book? It was passed from friend to friend to sister to mother and on and on after it came out. For good reason, too. Gilbert's voice in the memoir is fresh, funny, and vibrant. She is candid about her shortcomings, her failings, and her successes. Desperate to heal herself, she heads to Italy to find pleasure, India to find devotion, and Bali to find balance. (Oh, that we were all able to get a nice big book advance to create our own travel therapy!) Italy, India and Bali seemed to be magical places made just for spiritual and emotional restoration. I cheered Liz on her journey and wished her well.

The first problem of the movie is the difficulty in conveying to the audience Liz's emotional breakdown. In the book, you felt sorry for Liz and sympathized with what she was going through. In the film, this is done with a whole lot of voice-over. When Julia Roberts is on the bathroom floor crying at the start of the film, I felt nothing. Was that God speaking to her? I'm not sure, the moment passed by so quickly. Besides, God is just a stepping stone on the way to a better Liz. Whereas in the book you felt sadly sorry, in the film Liz's decision to leave her marriage seems selfish and shallow and her decisions impulsive and arbitrary. I had no sympathy for her and felt no reason to root for her as a character. What I felt mostly was apathetic about the whole thing.

One of the strengths of the book was Gilbert's ability to communicate the real changes she was experiencing externally and internally. By the time she arrived in India, the reader knew she was beginning her transformation and becoming stronger. In the movie, there is no evidence of change in Julia Roberts. She has the same simper and wilt when she arrives in Italy that she has in Bali. I don't think Julia Roberts is well-cast as Liz Gilbert, and I don't think Julia Roberts comes close to making herself believable in the role. She was nothing but Julia Roberts. There is no visible change in Julia/Liz until she falls in love in Bali and is ready to - wait for it - open her heart to love! BLECH! Sure, opening your heart to love is a great thing but certainly Liz's journey is about so much more than finding the right man. Rather, it's about finding the right way to live so she can be open to love. I was thoroughly disgusted at the end and glad it was over. It was long, too (harumph), and you feel every minute of it.

Was there anything I liked? Javier Bardem is handsome. Yes, I liked that. Also, Richard Jenkins as Richard from Texas has an affecting but brief scene as he discloses the mistakes he made in life. Sadly, the focus quickly returns to Julia/Liz and the emotion disappears as quickly as it comes.