EAT PRAY LOVE

EAT PRAY LOVE: PG-13/ 2hr28 min/Directed by Ryan Murphy/ Shared screenwriting credits go to Ryan Murphy and Jennifer Salt from Elizabeth Gilbert’s book of the same name/ Cast of importance: Julia Roberts, Richard Jenkins,Viola Davis, James Franco and Javier Bardem

(B) I enjoyed this film. I journeyed with Julia on her quest. I felt I was eating the great food in Italy and praying in India and I loved falling in love in Bali. Two scenes were very memorable for me. One scene with Julia talking to God was very honest and moving. Another scene was with Richard Jenkins, when he confesses to Julia about why his own search brought him to India. All in all, it was a wonderful trip. I give this film three binoculars. Elizabeth Gilbert has her own EAT PRAY LOVE website at:http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/eatpraylove.htm

(G) I too enjoyed this film very much at many levels. I think it is clear that this movie has struck a nerve with the American public, as is evidenced by the surge in book sales and the thousands of theme items being sold throughout the world. Though the main character is a woman it is not really a “Chick Flick” per se, because the journey we watch the main character take, is one that all humans can relate to, based on things that most of us are concerned with. I also think it was genius to have Richard Jenkins be the male counter-foil for the Julia Roberts character, mainly because I think Richard Jenkins can make any character believable. I enjoyed watching this story in much the same way that I enjoyed Out of Africa (though I’m usually not a Meryl Streep fan). The scenery was enough to keep me interested, but everyone can relate to these themes, regardless of how narrow your personal beliefs might be. Julia Roberts has gotten some flack for being a poor choice to portray the author, but she is wonderful and very real in my opinion. Naturally, I understand why any woman would want her to play them in a biographical tale. Anyway, there was one scene where she seems to be able to leak only one tear and control the speed at which it falls down her cheek. That is acting! When Jenkins, Bardem, or even Franco joins her on the screen everyone seems somehow “better.” I too score this one a three and may be willing to go one monocle higher than that after I see it a second time.