Monday, August 16, 2010

Chick Flick of the Summer?

Eat, Pray, Love
Dir: Ryan Murphy, 2010


Long and choppy.

Glee creator Ryan Murphy's big screen directing debut is based on the memoir detailing a lost 30-something woman's gastronomical, spiritual and emotional journey through Italy, India and Bali. After a depleting divorce and an intense relationship with a younger man, Liz Gilbert (Julia Roberts) takes a year off to lick to her wounds (and some gelato) and reconnect with herself.

Maybe I found the movie dull and draggy because I finished the book just a few months ago. While the story is sweeping, it isn't exactly cinematic. It's too internal, relies too much on seeing Gilbert's broken world through her disarmingly honest, sometimes funny and sentimental prose. That's tough and it doesn't really happen in the movie version of Eat Pray Love. We don't get to know Gilbert well enough to care about her pain before she transforms into a human-sized raw nerve ending. It's hard to be affected by her midnight cries and bathroom floor prayers when all we know about her is that she's a writer and that something is wrong in her life.

The Italy part is the hardest to slog through. The friends she makes are boring, the food she eats isn't all that appetizing and the experience just seems soulless. There's no genuine joy in it, despite her lip service to the contrary. Also, why (and how) did cinematographer Robert Richardson make a stunning place like Italy look so underwhelming? From there the disjointed quest continues in India, where Gilbert spends four months in her guru's ashram. She meditates, scrubs a few floors and works on forgiving herself, while finding time to make a few friends and attend an arranged wedding. Finally, she sets off for Bali, to hang out with a toothless medicine man and find balance between the corporeal and the ethereal. On the whole, Gilbert's year of self-discovery is more tiring than enlightening, more a last ditch effort to avoid being eaten alive by her demons, than a brave adventure.
 
One of the good things about Eat Pray Love is that it's populated by a winning cast of supporting characters, who supply comic relief, wisdom, and most importantly, respite from Gilbert's exhaustive voice-overs. My favorite of these is Richard From Texas (Richard Jenkins), the veteran yogi who dubs her "Groceries" and slings his wisdom with a side of humor. He grounds the ashram portion of the film and makes it watchable. Richard Jenkins keeps his character from becoming a caricature the way that Gilbert's ex-husband Stephen (Billy Crudup) does. That, by the way, is not the actor's fault, but the fault of Murphy and co-writer Jennifer Salt, who turn him into the fickle, lovesick and clueless court jester of the film's first 20 minutes. Kudos to Crudup, who does a great job with the material, managing to elicit his due sympathy as Gilbert carpet-bombs Stephen's life. Javier Bardem's portrayal of Felipe, the Brazilian expat who romances Gilbert, keeps you engaged in the third act, even though Felipe isn't that meaty. He's sexy, self-possessed, warm and very present and he makes watching worthwhile when it feels like you've already sunk too many hours of your life into this movie. 

It's not a bad idea to skip this movie if you've read the book. The intimacy of the memoir doesn't translate well to the screen and you might just be disappointed. If you haven't read the book, see the movie first, if you're so inclined. It's not necessary to see it on the big screen either. In fact, I think its effect would be enhanced if you cozied up to it with a cup of cocoa in the winter months.

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