Review: Eat Pray Love

Eat Pray Love is a movie aimed at and marketed towards women. So when I connected with it — and enjoyed it — it was a huge surprise. It wasn’t so much the story either, which we’ve seen multiple times before (usually with a man in the lead), as it was the cast that made it work, especially Julia Roberts. I’m not a particular fan of her or her work so it was refreshing that she appeared to be the perfect match for this part and I wouldn’t be surprised to see her get an Oscar nomination for it.

Based on the bestselling Oprah-approved memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert, the story follows Gilbert (portrayed by Roberts) on her travels over the course of a year as she tries to reconnect with her true self after her marriage falls apart. Along the way she finds comfort with food and new friends in Italy, enlightenment at a temple in India, and discovers that she can love and trust again in Bali.

As already mentioned, it’s the cast that really makes Eat Pray Love connect so well. Besides Roberts’ stellar performance, the two parts that stand out most are Javier Bardem as her love interest Felipe, and Richard Jenkins as the man she meets in India, known only as “Richard from Texas”. Bardem delivers a very raw, human character and makes an impression that he is the real deal while Jenkins nearly ripped my heart out with a powerful and sincere scene.

On the flip-side, the one role I felt needed work was Billy Crudup’s portrayal of Gilbert’s husband Stephen. I never believed his pain to be authentic when Gilbert announced her intentions for a divorce, nor that he was truly in love with her. Maybe the chemistry between Crudup and Roberts was off and that’s why it didn’t come across well onscreen. Or perhaps, because the film is heavy in parts, it was a decision made by the filmmakers to lighten the overall tone. I also didn’t care too much for James Franco’s part as David, whom Gilbert has a fling with before her divorce is finalized. However, this was more due in part to not liking the character rather than not appreciating Franco’s take on him.

Many people are going to loathe Eat Pray Love before they even see it (the same way the book had its detractors before people read it) because they feel what Gilbert did was selfish. Whether you agree with her or not doesn’t really matter because director and co-writer Ryan Murphy (creator of Glee and Nip/Tuck) has made a wonderful movie that deserves a fair trial. I went in expecting a “chick flick” and ended up seeing one of the most human pieces on film this year.

**** out of 5 stars

Rated PG
Cast: Julia Roberts, Javier Bardem, Richard Jenkins, Billy Crudup, James Franco
Directed by: Ryan Murphy
Official Site IMDb

brian.mckechnie@citynews.rogers.com

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