Eat Pray Love (2010)

Directed by: Ryan Murphy | 139 minutes | drama | Actors: Julia Roberts, James Franco, Javier Bardem, Billy Crudup, Richard Jenkins, Viola Davis, David Lyons, Tuva Novotny, Lidia Biondi, Arlene Tur, Luca Argentero, James Schram, Stephanie Danielson, Christine Hakim, Elena Arvigo, Bocker, Alyxx Tomorrow, Amanda Henderson, A. Jay Radcliff

There’s little controversial or daring about Elizabeth Gilbert’s decision in ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ to divorce her husband and then embark on a year-long journey to discover herself. You are usually not taken for a fool if you meditate for a month in India or take wise lessons from a medicine man in Bali. Rather, it is hip and part of the Western materialistic lifestyle to go on an inner or spiritual exploration. Yoga mats are hard to come by these days, and everyone seems to be looking for themselves – or at least fascinated by them – as evidenced by the popularity of TV shows such as “Expedition Robinson” or “71 Degrees North”, in which renounced every modern convenience and often the true nature of people comes to the fore. The story of the journalist Gilbert, who actually experienced all this and processed it in book form, cannot be called earth-shattering. It is just the story of someone in an inner crisis and trying to get out of this through half a world trip and some Eastern wisdom. This results in a somewhat awkward mix of ‘How Stella Got her Groove Back’ and ‘De Celestijnse Belofte’.

Gilbert’s inner journey provides sometimes picturesque images of photogenic places, and some nice encounters with charming men, but in fact there is not much depth. When Gilbert flies from relationship to (half) relationship, and from mantra to wisdom, providing little insight into why she makes her choices, while the director wants to make it a deeply spiritual drama on the one hand and a conventional romantic Hollywood film on the other two hours before), it’s hard to stay engaged with this character all the time and take things seriously. Fortunately, the actors and the beautiful pictures manage to keep the film above water for quite some time.

The story can certainly touch nerves with viewers in a similar situation to Gilbert, and there could even be some tears shed along the way as Gilbert comes to Great Insights or has emotional confrontations with other characters, such as when Javier Bardem’s says goodbye to Felipe. from his son, or Richard (Richard Jenkins) met in India reveals a personal secret. Still, more background or explanation about Gilbert’s motivations and thoughts would have been welcome. Her marriage to Stephen didn’t seem as doomed to fail as she believed. He is at most a bit directionless and needs some good conversations with his wife to raise certain points. It is a pity that this relationship, which seems to be quite essential to Gilbert’s later decisions, is not explored a bit further. So be it.

Gilbert breaks with her past and leaves everything behind to find herself. Although, is this so? The only thing she breaks with is her marriage, because she can continue to do even her work. During her wanderings she keeps a kind of diary, which is reason enough for her employer to pay for her trip. There’s hardly anything at stake for Gilbert that way. Let’s classify it as a mild form of a midlife crisis. In addition, the philosophies and findings that Gilbert makes his own in the film are not so profound that they require a radical world trip. Rather, they are the kind you find on wall tiles or in fortune cookies. Such as how God actually resides in man himself, or whether an inner balance is necessary. Moreover, the application of some wisdom in the last act of the film becomes almost ludicrous. For example, Gilbert is told by her Balinese “guru”, when she states that she cannot pursue a love because this disturbs her balance, that it is precisely the intention in love that you are brought out of balance and that this is for a whole new species. can provide balance. Yes, we would like a few more. If you really want to keep that inner balance, just keep meditating. If you want to find love and passion in another, you must be willing to give up your balance and plunge yourself into the deep end. Like everyone else—including Gilbert when she married her husband. In short, she just has to start all over again. She may want everything at once: eat, pray, and love, but as the English expression so beautifully puts it: “You can’t have your cake and eat it too”.

All the caveats aside, the film is generally quite enjoyable, thanks in large part to Julia Roberts. She generates more engagement with this character than you might expect. With her tormented, sad, helpless look she manages to take the viewer a long way into her troubles and she comes across as quite authentic for most of the film. Although she generally seems to have little regard for the world around her, it really does seem sincere when she does have a meaningful encounter with other characters. And together with these characters, especially the male ones, she almost sells the film. The men provide both drama and humor. Crudup is excellent as Gilbert’s somewhat immature husband, who is touching and surprisingly comical in the first act of the film. Javier Bardem is also endearing as the Brazilian lover Felipe, who has a special bond with his son. But the most interesting character is Richard, played by a bearded, great acting Richard Jenkins, who provides a slightly cynical and sarcastic counterbalance to Gilbert’s melancholy when she arrives at an Indian place of worship. It’s these kinds of characters that bring the necessary revival in ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ and, together with Roberts, give the film almost enough charm to make it succeed. Almost.