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Konaz
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- First reviewAugust 14, 2010
- Last reviewAugust 14, 2010
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Konaz's Reviews
Overall rating
3
/
5
A Bit of a Let Down...but see it....
PostedAugust 14, 2010
Konaz
from Philadelphia, PA
I read Eat, Pray, Love on an airplane—perfect airplane book. I then saw the video of Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED talk and admired her a lot. I very much looked forward to the movie—whether it departed from Gilbert’s book or not. I highly recommend the soundtrack cd. Eddy Vedder has two stunning songs, especially Better Days. Maybe he’ll be invited to Academy Awards? Alas, the movie is a bit of a let down. I love Julia Roberts. I love Javier Bardem. I love travel scenery…and there was the first let down: The best footage of Bali is in the trailer! I expected more eye candy shots of Rome, India and Bali. Maybe they paid Julia and Javier too much and skimped on the travel shots to save money? India definitely got short shrift. Any amateur can get gorgeous shots of India. The director just didn't "get" India. Maybe they were keeping with the real life character but Julia’s clothes—except for one stunning Sari—were not particularly covet-worthy. Her Bali house, however, and Javier’s Bali house as well…were to die for! So many books are better than the movies they turn into that I tried to not have big expectations. I would have been satisfied with lovely travel shots, Javier and Julia, and super clothes. It is OK with me that in real life the character would not really have had perfect clothes. Paris working girl Audrey Hepburn could never have afforded Givenchy! Fine. I so enjoyed seeing her wear them. In the book Elizabeth Gilbert gains 10 lbs eating pasta in Italy, but I’m sure she lost them again in India at the ashram. When her Swedish friend in Rome laments a similar weight gain, Julia chastises her. They then each eat a whole pizza! and then go off together to buy bigger jeans. Was that supposed to be a feminist triumph? In the movie’s final shot, Julia seems padded in baggy shorts—as if she had defiantly retained the weight gain. I would have preferred a parting shot of her in a romantic, Balinese inspired beach dress. The biggest EPL letdown was the ashram visit. Clearly writers Jennifer Salt and Ryan Murphy don’t “get” meditation. They made it look silly. And I bet anything that Ryan Murphy was responsible for the cheap joke where the British roommate started motor mouthing when her month of keeping silence was up. Richard Jenkins, the Texan friend at the ashram, may be a good actor but the direction made him come off as an annoying meditation bully. In the book, Gilbert does not dwell on the religious experience, but she obviously came away with something. You’d never know it from the movie. I found the film long and a bit tedious. I almost left during the India segment—I got so antsy. I had no other plans for the evening, so I forced myself to wait for Bali and Javier Bardem but it seemed like a long wait! I arrived 15 minutes early for the show and had to endure endless TV show commercials as well as coming attraction trailers. At least a solid HALF HOUR of that! I went to the 6:30 show and I got out at 9!
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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