Eat, Pray, Love

I had no real expectations of this movie, not having read the New York Time bestselling book based on the real story of the author, Elizabeth Gilbert.  But I do love a good fluffy summer flick and this one boasts a great cast and is directed by Ryan Murphy of Glee and Nip/Tuck, which I adore.  Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie a 38% approval rating, qualifying it as rotten, but I was not about to let a bunch of movie critics interfere with my need for escapism!  Only read the following if you have read the book, seen the movie or have not interest in either as there are some spoilers.

Liz Gilbert (Julia Roberts) is a successful writer in an unhappy marriage to Steven (Billy Crudup) who freaks out and decides to ditch her marriage.  It's never really made clear why Liz spends her nights lying on the bathroom floor crying, but it seemed like Steven had a severe case of adult ADHD jumping from one dream to the next, leaving poor Liz exasperated.  She quickly rebounds with brooding actor David (James Franco), a scruffy East Village beta-male who introduces Liz to spiritualism and his Guru.  However, she's still unhappy and crying on the floor and thus decides to run off for a year to Italy to eat, India to pray and then Bali to find balance.  When Liz's friend picks her up from David's place to take her to the airport, the camera pans out to reveal Sin Sin Leopard lounge, which not only happens to be around the corner from the theatre I was sitting in, but has been the site of many a drunken happy hour and late night last-call drinks.

Liz's time in Italy is pure food porn.  The scenes of Liz slurping plates of pasta, stuffing slices of pizza in her mouth and sipping countless glasses of red wine while in the company of gorgeous Italians are unbelievably shot.  I could have watched her twirl and savor the tomato drenched strands of spaghetti, sprinkled with delicate flakes of grated parmigiano reggiano and specked with fresh basil for hours.  My stomach growled from the memory of the taste of the fresh pasta I had eaten in my travels to Italy and in anticipation for the Italian meal we had planned after the movie.  There is one scene where coltish Liz and her equally slim friend have both gained the dreaded muffin-top as a result of their "no carb left behind" eating and go in search of "big girl pants".  They roll on the dressing room floor, convulsing in laughter, trying to button up pairs of too-snug jeans.  Women everywhere must have let out a collective groan as these women have MAYBE gone from a size two to a four and there is nothing hilarious about having to shop for fat clothes!  Also, it was reported that Ms. Roberts only gained 7 pounds during filming!

Onto India, where Liz's look of sheer terror in the back of a taxi zig-zagging through the ridiculously congested streets of Mumbai en route to the ashram instantly reminded me of my own frightening trip from the airport to hotel upon arriving in Bangalore as well as a rain-soaked rickshaw ride.   Once at the ashram, Liz befriends a young Indian girl who is about to be married off and a gruff Texan Richard (Richard Jenkins) that nicknames her "Groceries" due to her voracious appetite and helps Liz learn to forgive herself for breaking Steven's heart.  My favorite scene is her first time in the "meditation cave" where unable to tune out her racing thoughts ("noise" as my yoga teacher would call it) and after the longest minute ever, she collapses in frustration at her inability to concentrate.  While both the colorful, overwhelming energy and overt poverty of India are accurately portrayed, the time in India is a bit slow.

After the craziness of India, Liz arrives to the serenity of Bali for some much needed relaxation and to learn from a toothless medicine man she had previously met while writing an article on yoga vacations who told her she would someday return.  Liz not only finds balance but finds love with Felipe (Javier Bardem), whom she eventually married in real life.  The lush beauty of Bali is exactly as I remember and if Liz wanted to go some place to "marvel at something", this is definitely the spot.  Suddenly I'm craving a heap of Nasi Goreng.

Overall, Julia Roberts looks radiant and effortlessly graceful in a series of location specific outfits that left me wondering how much luggage did she bring!  I have to say the movie is a bit long at about two and half hours, the men smolder and spew corny lines ("It is time" by Felipe prior to a night of action was quite cringe-worthy) and sometimes you want to shake this whining privileged ingrate and say "Your life is not that bad!"  However, it is wonderful to look at and there are some great performances (Richard Jenkins in particular).  And me?  As much as it would be nice go on this type of self-indulgent journey, I will have to settle for a more budget friendly heaping bowl of pasta,  yoga class and the hope that my Felipe is out there somewhere.