Eat Pray Love (film)

''Eat Pray Love'' is a 2010 American biographical romantic drama film starring Julia Roberts as Elizabeth Gilbert, based on Gilbert's 2006 memoir of the same name. Ryan Murphy co-wrote and directed the film, which was released in the United States on August 13, 2010. It received mixed reviews from critics, but was a financial success, grossing $204.6 million worldwide against a $60 million budget.

Plot

Elizabeth Gilbert had everything a modern woman is supposed to dream of having – a husband, a house, a successful career – yet like so many others, she found herself lost, confused, and searching for what she really wanted in life.

Inexplicably unhappy and restless after eight years, Elizabeth doesn't want to be married anymore. Stephen doesn't understand why and doesn't accept the divorce easily. In the meantime she has a brief affair with David, a young actor.

So, finally newly divorced and at a crossroads, Gilbert steps out of her comfort zone, risking everything to change her life, embarking on a three point trip: Italy, India and Bali, a journey around the world that becomes a quest for self-discovery.

In her travels, she discovers the true pleasure of nourishment by eating in Italy, enjoying pastas and gelato for four months. A new Swedish friend introduces her to a private Italian tutor, and they celebrate Thanksgiving together right before she departs for her next stop.

Liz heads to an ashram where she experiences the power of prayer in India. In addition to mass prayer sessions, honoring their guru, she's assigned the chore of scrubbing floors. 'Texas Richard' keeps her on her toes as well as supporting her. When he's ready to move on, she's reassigned to greeting and orienting new arrivals.

Feeling more centered, Liz moves on to Bali, Indonesia. A year after first meeting him, she reintroduces herself to Ketut there. He gives her various tasks. While Liz is cycling she is run off the road by Felipe, a Brazilian. She is sent to Wayan in the village to help cure a bad gash in her leg. There she meets Brazilian Armenia. She convinces her to come back to the village that night to the Beach Shack for dancing.

There, Felipe approaches Liz, apologizing for almost killing her with his jeep. Armenia then tries to set her up with young Ian, but she doesn't want another idle fling. Felipe offers to give her a lift. Hours later he returns with a hangover cure and his number.

They hook up, and two weeks later Liz makes an appeal to her friends to donate to Wayan's future house, coming up with over 18,000. When Felipe proposes they spend a few days together in a remote spot, Liz panics, breaking up with him.

Deciding her time there is over, Liz gets prepared to leave and stops to say farewell to Ketut. He encourages her to embrace and, not run from love. She acknowledges his advice and runs to the dock after Felipe where she confesses her feelings to him. Finally and unexpectedly, the inner peace and balance of true love comes to her.

Cast

* Julia Roberts as Elizabeth "Liz" Gilbert
* Javier Bardem as Felipe, a Brazilian businessman Gilbert falls in love with on her journey
* James Franco as David, the man Gilbert has an intense relationship with while she is finalizing her divorce
* Richard Jenkins as Richard, a Texan Liz befriends at an Indian ashram
* Viola Davis as Delia Shiraz, Gilbert's best friend
* Billy Crudup as Steven, Gilbert's ex-husband
* Sophie Thompson as Corella, a woman at the Indian ashram
* Mike O'Malley as Andy Shiraz, Delia's husband
* Christine Hakim as Wayan, Gilbert's best friend in Indonesia
* Arlene Tur as Armenia
* Hadi Subiyanto as Ketut Liyer, Gilbert's advisor in Indonesia
* Gita Reddy as The Guru
* Tuva Novotny as Sofi, Gilbert's Swedish best friend in Rome
* Luca Argentero as Giovanni, Gilbert's Italian tutor and Sofi's love interest
* Rushita Singh as Tulsi, Gilbert's friend at the ashram
* Laksmi De-Neefe Suardana and Dewi De-Neefe Suardana as the owners of Indus restaurant.

Production

''Eat Pray Love'' began principal photography in August 2009. Filming locations include New York City (United States), Rome and Naples (Italy), Delhi and Pataudi (India), Ubud and Padang-Padang Beach at Bali (Indonesia).News for ''Eat, Pray, Love''
Retrieved on August 23, 2009

Hindu leaders voiced concern over the production of the film and advocated the use of spiritual consultants to ensure that the film conveyed an accurate reflection of life in an ashram. Both Salon.com and ''The New York Post'' have suggested that Gurumayi Chidvilasananda was the guru featured in the film and in the book by Elizabeth Gilbert on which the film was based, though Gilbert herself did not identify the ashram or the guru by name.Shah, Riddhi
The "Eat, Pray, Love" guru's troubling past."
Salon.com, August 14, 2010. Retrieved November 22, 2011

The two Balinese lead characters (Ketut Liyer and Wayan) are played by Indonesian actors Hadi Subiyanto and Christine Hakim, respectively.

Soundtrack

# "Flight Attendant" by Josh Rouse
# "Last Tango In Paris (Suite, Part 2)" by Gato Barbieri
# "Thank You" by Sly & the Family Stone
# "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" (from Mozart's ''The Magic Flute'') by Wiener Philharmoniker
# " Heart of Gold" by Neil Young
# "Kaliyugavaradana" by U. Srinivas
# "The Long Road" by Eddie Vedder and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
# "Harvest Moon" by Neil Young
# "Samba da Bênção" by Bebel Gilberto
# "Wave" by João Gilberto
# " Got to Give It Up, Part 1" by Marvin Gaye
# " 'S Wonderful" by João Gilberto
# "Better Days" by Eddie Vedder
# "Attraversiamo" by Dario Marianelli
# "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac
# " Boyz" by M.I.A.

Reception

Box office

The film debuted at #2 behind '' The Expendables'' with $23,104,523. It had the highest debut at the box office with Roberts in a lead role since ''America's Sweethearts'' in 2001.'Expendables' Explode, 'Eat Pray Love' Carbo-Loads, 'Scott Pilgrim' Powers Down
boxofficemojo.com During its initial ten-day run, revenue grew to a total of $47.2 million. The competing film '' The Expendables'' features Eric Roberts, Julia Roberts's brother, and the box office pitted Roberts versus Roberts. ''Hollywood.com'' commented that "sibling rivalry is rarely as publicly manifested" as this. The film, produced on a $60 million budget, grossed $80,574,382 in the United States and Canada and has a worldwide total of $204,594,016.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 36% approval rating based on 207 reviews with an average rating of 5.20/10. The site's critical consensus reads "The scenery is nice to look at, and Julia Roberts is as luminous as ever, but without the spiritual and emotional weight of the book that inspired it, ''Eat Pray Love'' is too shallow to resonate." On Metacritic, it has a score of 50 based on reviews from 39 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B on scale of A to F.

Peter Bradshaw of ''The Guardian'' gave the film 1 out of 5 stars, beginning his review "Sit, watch, groan. Yawn, fidget, stretch. Eat Snickers, pray for end of dire film about Julia Roberts's emotional growth, love the fact it can't last for ever. Wince, daydream, frown. Resent script, resent acting, resent dinky tripartite structure. Grit teeth, clench fists, focus on plot. Troubled traveller Julia finds fulfilment through exotic foreign cuisine, exotic foreign religion, sex with exotic foreign Javier Bardem. Film patronises Italians, Indians, Indonesians. Julia finds spirituality, rejects rat race, gives Balinese therapist 16 grand to buy house. Balinese therapist is grateful, thankful, humble. Sigh, blink, sniff. Check watch, groan, slump."

Wesley Morris of ''The Boston Globe'' gave the film 3 out of 4 stars while writing "Is it a romantic comedy? Is it a chick flick? This is silly, since, in truth, it's neither. It's simply a Julia Roberts movie, often a lovely one." ''San Francisco Chronicle'' film critic Mick LaSalle overall positively reviewed the film and praised Murphy's "sensitive and tasteful direction" as it "finds way to illuminate and amplify Gilbert's thoughts and emotions, which are central to the story".

Negative reviews appeared in ''The Chicago Reader'', in which Andrea Gronvall commented that the film is "ass-numbingly wrong", and ''Rolling Stone'', in which Peter Travers referred to watching it as "being trapped with a person of privilege who won't stop with the whine whine whine." Humor website ''Something Awful'' ran a scathing review. Martin R. "Vargo" Schneider highlighted several aspects of the film that he considered completely unrealistic. Political columnist Maureen Dowd termed the film "navel-gazing drivel" in October 2010.

The BBC
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