Eat Pray Love

I heart you, Julia Roberts. I could listen to you read from the phonebook. I could watch you thread sewing needles. But as much as I love every single time you're on screen, there's a fundamental problem when you're upstaged by food. Eat Pray Love is based on the memoir of writer Elizabeth Gilbert, a writer who goes on a multi-country journey of self discovery. The book has sold millions of copies, been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show twice, and has found it's way into the hearts of a legion of women. For a film that is supposed to be about emotional awakening, there's very little real feeling on display, so what we're left with is one shallow wanderer and a bunch of cliches.

Roberts practically glows as Gilbert, a woman who just can't seem to settle down. Her marriage to Steven(Billy Crudup), a kind but adventureless guy, seems to be rolling right along. She's got a great job as a writer, a load of wealthy friends. Basically she's got a life that almost anybody would be happy with. But for whatever reason she's uncomfortable. Marriage is tough, she decides, so why hang around? She uncermoniously dumps her confused spouse, then acts surprised when he's not all that receptive to the terms of their divorce. She immediately jumps into a fling with an airy but hunky actor(James Franco), and sinks herself into an empty world of new age yuppie spiritual enlightenment. But Liz needs a change. "I have no pulse", she says. So her bags are packed, another broken heart left in her wake, and takes off on a trip to experience everything life has to offer.

Her journey is broken up into three locatons. The first in Italy being the most entertaining, and also the one where the character inadvertently finds what she's looking for. Too bad the story doesn't stay in this gorgeous, sensual locale as Liz samples the finest foods visits the most beautiful places in the world. These scenes are perfectly crafted. The camera lingers on the luminous Roberts as she indulges in every bite, to the point where we feel like we're sitting right across from her.You can practically smell the marinara and basil. Liz forges a whole new life for herself with new friends and experiences. It's reminiscent of the best scenes from this year's Tilda Swinton film, I Am Love, but without the boring familial squabbling. If you're not starving for both a big bowl of spaghetti and a trip to Rome then you're dead inside.

The next legs of her trips are less certain and lacking in any sort of focus. She travels to India to stay at a Hindu ashram, where she prays in hopes of discovering her lost spirituality. The energy from Italy is immediately sapped, even as Roberts continues to excel alongside veteran actor Richard Jenkins as a Texan who immediately sizes her up. He takes Liz under his wing, providing homespun wisdom more insightful than any of Liz's many gurus. In a lot of ways, it's a performance that reminded me of his brilliant role in The Visitor, where he plays a man who goes on a much more localized but no less profound awakening. A barely explored and heavy handed subplot about a girl being forced into an arranged marriage has the opposite intended effect, only reinforcing Liz's selfishness.

If India lacked focus, Liz's trip to Bali is where Eat Prey Love completely goes off the rails. While studying under a toothless Yoda-like shaman, she meets Felipe(Javier Bardem), a divorcee just like herself who she immediately bonds with. Bardem shows much the same panty dropping charm he exuded in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. The problem is that this is the least interesting story of all, with Liz and Felipe's relationship constructed in the most conventional way. It's a given how their story will end, and they never face a single obstacle on the way there.

That's the problem with Eat Pray Love as a whole. I don't know what Liz's problem really is. Money never seems to be a factor at any point, which wouldn't be a problem if she had any other issues we could relate to. But she doesn't, and every time they flashback to her marriage it only cements that fact. It only makes Liz look worse every time. She comes off like the worst of Nicole Holofcener's(Please Give, Friends with Money) spoiled, tormented, filthy rich characters who's problems are mostly those of their own making. Everybody else around them just gets hit with the emotional shrapnel.

Roberts is brilliant, though. And her presence, along with that of Jenkins, are enough to make this film watchable and even enjoyable at times. They really played down her beauty to an extent, which ironically makes her even more appealing. There's something about her that whenever she's playing a character who's truly happy and enjoying life, it makes you enjoy life a little bit more too.

The marketing for Eat Pray Love has positioned itself as the women's answer to The Expendables, which makes total sense. But only the most diehard fans of the book are going to appreciate Liz's quest. To everybody else it'll just look like a really nice, really expensive extended holiday.