CHRISTIANITY TODAY reviewed by Camerin Courtney
I was both delighted and scared when I learned they were turning Elizabeth Gilbert's bestselling travel memoir Eat Pray Love into a feature-length film. I was one of the gajillion people who read the book--and not because Oprah liked it, but because I love the travel narrative genre. I've happily armchair traveled to many a dreamy locale through the pages of such reads. And while I liked EPL well enough, especially the "eat" section, I didn't find it that much better than other offerings of its kind to warrant all the hoopla.
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Still, a chance to vicariously journey to Italy, India, and Indonesia for a feast of rich words, foods, and scenery on the big screen? Bring it.
My fears about turning this into a movie came mostly with the "pray" parts. That section of the book left me a bit cold. As a Christ-follower, I couldn't get into Gilbert's ashram-inspired, mantra-drenched search for the god within. As a rational person I had a hard time getting into her literal tree-hugging moment out in some Indian jungle. But then, one person's spiritual experiences often don't translate well to others. You know when you're having a God-moment, and inviting someone else to glimpse or understand it is difficult if not profane.
So how much harder is that task without all of Gilbert's thoughtfully crafted prose? With literal images instead of the wonder of each reader's imagination? How do you capture a spiritual pilgrim's faltering steps toward faith? Apparently the answer, at least for the writers/directors of Eat Pray Love, is you don't. We see Julia Roberts cross-legged and om-ing in a dingy ashram and some lovely pastoral locations, but we never really get a sense of her inner journey to peace and faith and joy.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, we eat! Well, rather, we watch Elizabeth Gilbert (Roberts) wake up one day and just not "feel it" anymore, dump her directionless husband (Billy Crudup) of eight years, fall headlong into a rebound relationship with a younger man (James Franco), watch that relationship also turn cold, then embark on a journey of looking for her own pulse and passions in the holy trinity of I-countries--beginning with Italy, the land of beautiful men, poetic language, and carb-rich comfort food. She falls in with a band of life-loving locals and fellow travelers, learning the Italian art of "the sweetness of doing nothing" along the way.
And out of that cocoon of community and comfort, she crashes into the chaos of India. She's there at the ashram of her ex-boyfriend's guru, seeking enlightenment while she chants, mops the floors, and once again settles in with a wise and witty fellow traveler (Richard Jenkins).
Finally, Gilbert journeys to Bali, Indonesia, to revisit an ancient faith healer she met on a writing assignment months before. She's supposedly learning from his spiritual wisdom, but all we really see her do is bump into hunky Felipe (Javier Bardem) and wrestle with the prospect of opening her heart to love again.
Throughout this ambitious trek, Gilbert remembers happier times with her husband, ponders why she always disappears into her romantic relationships, works to forgive herself for breaking her ex-husband's heart, and for not knowing and trusting her own. There are lovely bits of Gilbert's prose voice-overed in many scenes. For example, in Italy, sitting in a centuries-old ruin that's been repurposed time and again, she realizes, "Ruin is a gift. Ruin is the road to transformation."
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SOURCE: Urban Christian News
