Eat Pray Love (2010)
Certified: PG
Duration: 134 minutes
Directed by: Ryan Murphy
Starring: Julia Roberts, Javier Bardem, Billy Crudup, James Franco, Viola Davis, Richard Jenkins, Christine Hakim
KRS release
Eat Pray Love is an adaptation of the memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert which entered the New York Times bestseller list in the non-fiction category. At times narcissistic and at others emotional, this is a film that will surely go down well with females.
The film’s structure is quite simple and is set out in three parts. Ryan Murphy has directed a very picturesque film, accentuating each physical feature – be it natural landmarks, a plate of spaghetti or a handsome-looking guy.
Liz Gilbert (Julia Roberts) is on a year-long trip which she needs to “find” herself after going through a major upheaval. This includes her divorcing her husband (Billy Crudup) and having an affair with a younger man (James Franco).
In order to find happiness Liz is taking three stops. Her first one is in Italy where she gets back the appetite for life through an appetite for eating. There she also meets new friend – Sofi (Tuva Novotny), Italian language tutor Giovanni (Luca Argentero) and others.
After that it’s off to Calcutta, where she re-connects with her spirituality. There she meets Tulsi (Rushita Singh), a young soon-to-be bride who is not happy with her marriage and Richard (Richard Jenkins) who gives her a hard time but has trouble of his own.
Last stop is Bali where she meets Felipe (Javier Bardem), a handsome businessman with whom she is soon smitten. But is he the answer to her life or is she looking for something else?
Sceptics may scoff at the life messages that the film is replete with as each section seems to have its own little neat message.
Surely enough it is a feel-good movie and shows how women do not need to be solely dependent on men. The film may also tempt one to simply pack up a little baggage and go out to enjoy the greatest gift of all – life.
Ms Roberts is quite relaxed in her role; she is calm, shiny and quite the centre piece for the film. With her in the picture the film becomes a Julia Roberts movie, a mantelpiece for her as a movie star, with the role seemingly made for her. She is in nearly every frame as she moves the picture forward at a leisurely pace.
Richard Jenkins delivers another performance in the vein of his role in The Visitor (2007), however, it’s always a pleasure to see a performance of his. Mr Bardem plays his usual rugged self to the acclaim of the female audience.
The soundtrack, made up of songs by Florence and The Machines, The Tender Trap and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and a score by Dario Marianelli, enhances this leisurely paced, postcard-style travelogue of a film.