Eat Pray Love Director's Cut movie review (2010)

Eat Pray Love (2010)
[Director's Cut]

Based on Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir of the same name, "Eat Pray Love" tells the story of Liz Gilbert, who had everything a woman is supposed to want - a husband, a house, a successful career - but it just ain't enough. Newly divorced and at a crossroads, Gilbert steps out of her comfort zone and embarks on a journey around the world that becomes a quest for self-discovery. In her travels, she discovers the true pleasures of food in Italy; the power of prayer in India, and, finally and unexpectedly, the inner peace and balance of true love in Bali. Unfortunately, Ryan Murphy's adaptation works better in parts than as a whole, but overall, the film is nicely-shot, smoothly-paced and quite easy to watch despite its overlong running time. "Eat Pray Love" relies mostly on its gorgeous scenery and Julia Roberts' charismatic lead performance and this is where the movie succeeds best. Roberts' undeniable charm and captivating screen presence combined with the invariable naturalness of her acting create a believable character that tells a believable story, but sadly the story itself is rather ordinary, and there's nothing special or very memorable about it. The New York sequences aren'tparticularly interesting, except for the fact that James Franco appears, and he delivers a great performance as David Piccolo. The part shot in Italy is all about eating and it's my second favorite segment of the movie, as the scenery is stunningly ravishing, the characters are thoroughly likable and the food/eating scenes are superbly-shot, capturing the essence of Italian traditions and culture quite brilliantly. The part in India is easily the weakest and the least interesting of all three. It's visually exotic, and yet the messy and dirty streets of India are somewhat repulsive and not very unpleasant to watch, just like the segment itself. It's way too slow, a bit pretentious and pretty unexciting, and I honestly couldn't wait it to end. However, the part in Bali somewaht compensates the dullness of part two. Once again, the scenery is simply breathtaking and at times even dream-like, and the characters are sympathetic and credible, as are the interactions between them. Part three is all about love, and you can feel that. Javier Bardem's appearance is like a breath of fresh air to the movie - his character, Felipe, is charismatic, kind and caring and a pure joy to watch. Plus, the on-screen chemistry between him and Roberts is strong and quite believable. 'Bali' is not only the most romantic, visually-stunning and feel-good part of "Eat Pray Love", but also the best. The director's cut features approximately 15 minutes of never-before-seen footage not shown in the theatrical version. "Eat Pray Love" is far from great, but thanks to its fantastic visuals and Julia Roberts' star power, the film is engaging, decently enjoyable and pretty to look at.

• My Rating: 6.00/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 37% (5.2/10)
• IMDb: 5.0/10