Eat Pray Love

There are movies where the book is better and there are movies where the movie is better. And then there is the type where both are probably as good. I was a few pages down Eat Pray Love when I could not take the risk of the movie leaving the screens in Mumbai. It had been 2 weeks since the release. Plus my schedules were going downright crazy. Could not catch up with completing the book. So just went right ahead. I am not sure, in which category would EPL (not the soccer variety) fall into but I am kind of willing to stick my neck out and say it would be the third variety.


Elizabeth Gilbert (Julia Roberts) is a thirty something author who is in a marriage to Stephen (Billy Crydup) which dreams are made of. Settled, big house, well to do husband and her own career going northwards. And the prospect of going the family way also seemingly around the corner. But what if she doesn’t want any of this? What if she is not ready to be a mother? What if she suddenly realizes that the past few years were nothing but a mistake? That she is not the kinds who is willing to settle down in the first place. That her choice of getting married was probably the biggest mistake of her life? – BITCH is what most of us would call her isn’t it?

But then, Ms. Gilbert finds herself in exactly this position. After days on end of crying herself to sleep and trying to figure out what she prefers – Being called a bitch or staying in a marriage that is not what she wants. Liz takes option 1. Which I personally believe is the choice one needs to have the courage to make. Seriously what is the point of being in a relationship, friendship or whatever one wants to call it if one is just not interested – isn’t it? So Liz makes the choice of bailing out on her marriage.

In between all of this on a trip to Bali she meets Ketut Liyer, a medicine man who predicts that Liz would lose everything, come back to Bali for a few months and then make everything that she lost back. True to Ketut’s prediction, when she returns and breaks her wedding, she actually loses everything that she has made coz Stephen decides to take her to the cleaners. Somewhat on the rebound, she finds herself in love with David (James Franco) an actor. But is still not able to find any happiness. She finally decides to quit everything and follow her heart to three places – Italy (Eat), India (Pray) and Indonesia (Love).

I am totally in awe of Julia Roberts. I don’t think there is any role that she cannot play. And when there is an opportunity to play a serious character role like that of Liz Gilbert, she comes out on tops totally. Just like she did with Erin Brockovich. The classic example of a method actor. I am certain that she takes the concept of getting under the skin of her character to the highest possible level. The more I think about her, the only word that comes to mind is ETHEREAL. The rest of the cast is quite good but pale in comparison to her just because of the sheer presence that she gets to the screen. And had it not been for the magical Javier Bardem who plays the role of Filepe, it would have probably been called The Julia Roberts Show and not Eat Pray Love.

Director Ryan Murphy is known for the TV Series Glee. Now in the past I have said that TV directors should stick to TV. But Mr. Murphy seems to be out to prove me wrong. Slightly stretched but I guess it had to be for the book @ hand. And specifically, the India segment was probably not handled with the best of finesse. At the end of the day, I think he does a pretty good job out of it. Some poignant moments especially when Richard from Texas (Richard Jenkins) breaks down in front of Liz while telling her his story and what got him to India for the past 10 years. All in all, EPL is a pretty good watch. Scores 6 on 10 in my books. But more importantly another potential Oscar nomination for Julia Roberts on the cards.