I love a good road or travel film so when I saw the trailer for this film I was ecstatic. I'm a spiritual person so I was really looking for a message or something to apply to my own life from Liz's adventures. Little did I know that I was going to get much more than I bargained for.
"Eat Pray Love" is a film directed by Ryan Murphy who is quickly becoming a household name mostly being known as the creator of the hit TV series "Glee". The film stars Julia Roberts, Billy Crudup, James Franco, Javier Bardem, Viola Davis, Richard Jenkins, and Christine Hakim. The film is about a woman named Liz Gilbert who is unhappy with the calculated choices she has made in here life so she leaves everything and everyone behind to travel the world in search of herself. In the film she visits Italy, India, and Bali experience three different kinds of pleasure. Eating, Praying, and loving. Not only do I love this film, I connected to it on a deep personal level. I completely identified with Liz and almost everything that she said regarding her life. It's not easy for us to give up on everything and not have money and see the world. We went to have the comfort of knowing that we have somewhere safe to lay our head every night and it takes a sacrifice to do what Liz did. She had a book advance to travel with but everyday people don't have that luxury. I often think about taking the road less traveled and I felt like my hunger was temporarily quenched during this film because I was so emotionally invested. Aside from the bias, I really feel that the critics were harsh in their reviews. Honestly, I don't give a damn what critics say about film anymore because I think they've seen so many movies that they've been desensitized and they often glaze over most films unless it's a film they actually want to see. I don't give a fuck. I never pay attention to critics or listen to them. Hell, if I did that I probably would only see one or two films a year.
Julia Roberts is a marvel as always but here you get to see her differently. The way she portrays Liz is that of someone who knows what they want but doesn't know what they want. As she goes to each country she is thrown into the unknown and she handles it the best way that she knows how. All the supporting performers are good as well but one that stood out to me was Javier Bardem's character Felipe. Here is a man who is utterly charming and seems to live in a happy existence but he doesn't completely. He's afraid to love again after losing his wife and he can't let himself go from that. It's a very subtle and heartbreaking performance. It's brilliant. Sure you can see this film as a narcissistic, unrealistic, slow, and so much beautiful eye candy in it that the plot suffers but if you just let yourself see the movie for what it is then you will learn something from it. In a larger sense this film isn't about Liz at all, it's about our lives and how we choose to live them and what paths we choose to take. We can be bound to another or to no one at all and that to me is worth the price of admission. It's a beautiful film and should be seen if not for Julia Roberts. It's like watching three different films really because each segment has a different story to tell even though we're dealing with the same woman.
I don't even have to tell you that the cinematography is impeccable. If you don't like the movie, you can at least admire what you see. Colors are radiant and there's almost an angelic glow to most of the scenes to almost signify some sort of perpetual spiritual awakening throughout the film. There is a beautiful BEAUTIFUL shot that they actually show in the trailer of Javier Bardem grabbing hold of Julia's hands and the sun shines through their hands. I often wonder how filmmakers get shots like that. Overall the cinematography is breathtaking.
There is a very interesting choice of music used in this film and what you get essentially is an eclectic selection. It's definitely a soundtrack that you would have playing in the background at some chill party or a romantic evening with that special someone. However, it fit the film in all it's different locales.
Julia Roberts radiates in this and there were a few times a mist appeared in my eyes. It's a story for those who feel trapped in their lives and want to make a change. Those who are practical need not apply. If you've ever thought of experience what reckless abandon feels like, this movie will give you a taste of living in the moment and not planning your whole life out like a list of to-dos until you're dead. Highly recommended for those who want more out of life.
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