Susan on Eat
When trying to decide, at the screening, which one of us would review which section, I said, “Well, it’s obvious I should review Eat because I’m sitting here with a piece of pizza in one hand [given to me by one of our amazing subscribers] and popcorn in the other!”
I had not read Eat Pray Love before seeing the movie but I was certainly familiar with Elizabeth Gilbert’s journey to Italy, India and Bali to find herself and discover the meaning of her life. I wasn’t going to know if the movie stayed true to the book that resonated so deeply with so many people, and I thought that would help me be more objective about the movie. I was excited to be reviewing the Eat portion of her journey since I love both Italy and eating, but it took a while to get there because the filmmakers had to set the stage for why she needed to embark on her journey to begin with. We needed to see and feel her unhappy marriage, her divorce from her husband and her new relationship with a younger man which starts out promisingly but ends up with her once again feeling stifled, unfulfilled and empty.
When she finally began her year-long journey of self discovery, I found I was feeling a bit annoyed with her decision to head abroad to find herself rather than stay in New York and do the hard work there with therapy and/or spiritual awakening (like the rest of us would have had to do). I was letting my annoyance get in the way of how I viewed her stay in Italy. Italy was supposed to be about relaxing, “learning to let go” and experiencing pleasure mainly through delicious food. To me, it all felt a bit contrived: how quickly she made friends and how easily she made the transition to living in a foreign country. She didn’t seem to struggle at all (suddenly, she was fluent in Italian) and I didn’t sense as much “letting go” as I thought I would. It was hard for me to see past Julia Roberts looking beautiful and slim (no weight gain that I could see) in this “learning to let go” period of Gilbert’s journey. The cinematography, however, was stunning and it made me want to get back to Italy as soon as possible.
After the movie was over and I sat and analyzed Gilbert’s entire journey, I realized that this had been her personal journey to take in whatever way she needed to take it. Just because most of us can not leave for a year to fix ourselves and find our “center” doesn’t mean I should judge the way in which she did it. The fact still remains , though, that I much preferred the Pray and Love sections.
Lois on Love
Love may be all you need, according to the Beatles, but in Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert has to go through a lot of pasta and meditation before she’s ready to even consider that philosophy. The order of her journey is no coincidence; if you’re lucky, love is always the happy ending.
As my husband and I approach our 29th wedding anniversary next week (feel free to tell me I don’t look old enough to have been married that long, thank you), I have mixed feelings about Liz’s decision to leave her husband in the movie – although I don’t remember feeling that way when I read the book years ago. She doesn’t want to try to make the marriage work, and because the movie doesn’t give you enough background about his faults, you get the idea that she’s a little selfish and self-absorbed, and just isn’t ready to share her life with someone else. It’s impossible to say whether he would have been the right man if she met him later in Bali, or whether she would have divorced Felipe (Javier Bardem) if he was the one she had been married to at the time.
So it’s hard to find a real message in this. Is love about timing? Is it about needing to love yourself before you can love someone else?
Although the Bali section of the movie, where Liz meets Felipe, is gorgeous to watch – the lush scenery, the rich textures and colors, Javier Bardem – it just feels superficial. Of course Bali is the right place to fall in love and of course Javier Bardem is the right man to fall in love with. But what has Liz really learned about herself on her journey that literally brings her to this place in her life? The movie never fully explores her transformation.
It’s a sad fact that movies are rarely as good as the books upon which they’re based – so it shouldn’t be a disappointment that the celluloid version of Eat Pray Love can’t compete with Elizabeth Gilbert’s life-changing memoir. Reading the book is like being invited to share Liz’s very personal and raw diary – she analyzes, obsesses, questions and feels deeply, and causes the reader to do the same. Watching the movie, on the other hand, is more like enjoying a beautiful travelogue in which Julia Roberts interacts with some of the most interesting men working in film today. You “ooh” and “ah,” then go home, no richer for the experience.
There’s a line in “Les Miserables” that makes me cry every time, that goes, “To love another person is to see the face of God.” It nails — in less than a dozen words — what Eat Pray Love still can’t really express in two-plus hours.
My husband and I may never take a boat ride to our own private island in Bali, and neither one of us is likely to have a magical encounter with an elephant in India. We will, however, spend our wedding anniversary getting ready to send our daughter off for her freshman year in college, packing up our son to move off campus, giving our elderly dog her insulin shots and then sitting down together to plan our empty nest over a couple of slices of take-out pizza. That, to me, is real love.
Having read the book long ago, and just seen the movie yesterday, I loved reading these points of view, which brought up things I had not considered.
I loved both the book and the movie, for many reasons, but the movie without the book, well, I imagine that would be a bit flat. Yes, the cinematography was breathtaking! And as one who has done much of the same inner journey as the author, without the world travel, I applaud her for allowing her journey to be absolutely open to view. How beautiful!
What I came away from the movie more clearly with was that it is true: to love another we must allow ourselves to love US first?! And for heaven’s sake let’s stop limiting ourselves to what we can and can’t create!! There are endless possibilities to participate in, if we only overcome our fears, let go, and jump in. Let’s stop saying, “I can’t’ or ‘I never will’ and SING, “I can and I will!”
Because they had no choice but to cut from the book, the movie breezed a lot over her anxiety and guilt and yes, therapy she went through before leaving her husband. Their conflict was also clearer in the book so people seeing the movie might not understand her decision.
I enjoyed watching Gilbert’s adventure on screen and thought Julia Roberts was perfect for the role, and Javier Bardem? Maybe a bit too perfect, certainly not what I pictured from the book, but even when you’re not looking for love, and Gilbert wasn’t, how do you turn him down?
I look forward to reading your reviews of the books and movies that are currently on the market, so I was interested in hearing your comments on Eat Pray Love. Let me congratulate you on the way you approached the review. Not only did I learn about the movie but I feel I got to know about the three of you. Do this more often. You have a great website.
Love the new look of your site!
here’s my review:
No LOVE, just PRAYing for the end so I can EAT…
Last night I saw Eat Pray Love. All about a woman who is lost. Right? I hated it. (I didn’t get past page 30 of the book either). And I wondered. Why? Why do 300 million people love this story in 48 languages, buy it, get inspired by it, and I hate it.
Like I wanted to leave. I wanted to scream over everybody’s head, why are you buying this B….S…. ?
Anyway.
I think I figured it out. It lacks authenticity. Credibility. Like when Precious makes good we cheered for her. We admired her for facing horrific challenges and demons. But this? This is the cliche of a spoiled pretty woman lost. Really, she’s more enviable than pitiable. She tells us she’s desperate but shows us a gorgeous home, handsome husband, intellectual parties, NYC at its brownstone best, cutest actor rebound boyfriend, rambling apartment in Rome, all the prosciutto, basel and Chianti she can consume, fabulous funny friends who adore her, then onto the super cleaned-up version of India where she befriends the “I don’t want to have an arranged marriage” cliche Indian girl while scrubbing picturesque mosaic floors (all along her hair is Fekkai perfect) ending with the inevitable photogenic Indian wedding ceremony. Then onto Bali (How awful, are we suffering yet? I am, by now I’m so hungry seeing all that Italian food earlier) Anyway. Once there she finds out, like duh, that “giving” makes her feel good about herself, things start looking up… and finally she smiles!
BUT THEN.
While bicycling through a gorgeous landscape she gets hit by Javier Bardem in his white jeep.
JAVIER BARDEM!
Tell me, who here doesn’t want to get run over by Javier Bardem?
STILL…
Now she’s pissed off about that too!
After several scenes ( I only stayed this long because my friend Jessica swore there was steamy sex with Javier) of Roberts and Bardem having fully clothed sex behind bamboo doors the story reaches its end. (Phew).
The last scene is straight from the Bachelorette, radiant Julia at the end of the jetty, sun setting on the horizon, waiting for her knight in shining armor …
Fade out to “and they lived happily ever after.”
(Apparently not entirely, in real life the couple’s struggles continued because Javier, had “immigration” problems).
Now there is a movie I may watch:
Javier (without papers) in Arizona…. running his white Jeep over Julia Roberts on her bike…
First, I love the way you approached the 3 parts of the movie – – very clever, ladies! Second, I read the book, enjoyed it, but ultimately felt let down, as I couldn’t help but see the character as being rather self-centered. Then (call me fickle), I saw the author speak at Warwick’s and she was adorable, very charming. I reconsidered her story, but have no desire to see the movie. After your review(s) above, I have even less desire. I think Julia Roberts is not really cast properly here, and I’d rather recall the parts of the book that I did enjoy – – primarily the “eat”-ing part!! Thanks for the great review.
Ladies, love, love, loved your review – candid, open, honest and real. I have not seen the movie yet, but will, both because I truly did love the book, and, because I am a movie junkie (I have watched Something’s Gotta Give at least 200 times… seriously). Lois, I loved your comment about coming to terms with Liz’s journey – her ability to step to the side of her life and head out on such an extravagant journey of discovery. I believe that at heart, we are story tellers. We still long to gather around the fire at night in the mouth of the cave, sit close to one another,and tell our stories, and listen to our stories, and….. learn from our stories. Liz took a journey and then told us her story. I learned a great deal about myself as I listened to her tale unfold. I believe that there is poverty and need at every economic level, it just comes dressed in different clothes. Poverty, lack, pain of the heart is in need of tending. Liz Gilbert used her resources to craft a journey that took her where she needed to go. If I had the resources, might I decide to set out for a year on my own such journey? I think I might. And then I might decide to write a story about it and see if I could turn it into a book….even a best seller.