Eat Pray Love

Three verbs. Eleven letters. These are what sustain us. (I might have also added Work.) Elizabeth Gilbert's poetically written international hit memoir takes film form through Julia Roberts. First, book: I have a nasty tendency, like my daughter, to avoid over-hyped, over- promoted, over-endorsed books. but this I finally read. Let's just say, it is one of the few books from which I have bothered to capture several quotes on my laptop so I wouldn't forget them. It speaks to me on so many levels - too many to detail here. Esssentially, it chronicles the transformative journey of being human - learning, changing, evolving. So that takes us to the movie.

This is a lot of story to tell, three, really, from New York to Italy to India to Bali. I felt everything in the movie was faithful to the book, but of course, so much has to be left out. A major omission: a pivotal, climactic moment in book comes after E. has spent interminable hours on a roof in the night in deep soul meditation. It leads to her breakthrough. I felt movie needed that.

I've never been a Julia Roberts fan, but I think this is her best work. No glam, lots of camera close-ups that catch subtle, yet deep emotion. Carrying the weight of being in every single frame, (my favorite scenes were the ones in which she said almost nothing), she truly begins to resemble the real E. Gilbert. Nice job, Julia.

Overall, really nice casting. However, Javier Bardem is too young and irresistible. His character in the book is markedly older than Elizabeth and they have many differences, which leads to real love over lust or ego.

My biggest approval of this film lies with the men in it. This is NOT just a woman's journey. Starting as early and minor as the translator in Italy, he bravely admits to fear in losing his new love. Richard Jenkins breaks my heart as the tough Texan who reveals the pathos-filled pain underneath his crusty exterior. And Bardem's character reveals his emotional divorce baggage as well as his poignant devotion to his children (you, David) and longing when they leave again. These men are what gave the film balance. I loved them!

The film's conclusion was sappy and Hollywood-esque. It diminished the deeply philosophical, spiritual theme of Gilbert's experience. But, oh well.

I thoroughly enjoyed the sensual and sensory banquet this movie provided. When it ended, my sister remarked, "I feel like I just had a delicious, satisfying meal." Me, too, but only because I knew the book.

I offer you, here, just one of my favorite quotes from Gilbert's book: "We don’t realize that somewhere within us all, there does exist a supreme Self who is eternally at peace. That supreme Self is our true identity, universal and divine."