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Starring |
Julia Roberts
,
James Franco
,
Javier Bardem
,
Billy Crudup
,
Viola Davis
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Directed By |
Ryan Murphy
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Audio
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DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
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Visuals
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1.85:1 Widescreen
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Running Time |
140 mins
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UK Release Date |
February 7, 2011
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Genre |
Drama
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Our Rating |
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User Rating |
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Fancy watching an even-smugger-than-usual Julia Roberts trying to find herself for nearly two and half hours? No, neither do I. It’s probably no surprise then that this excruciatingly self-satisfied and utterly tedious chick-lit-tastic epic stunk up the multiplexes last September and received a lukewarm response.
After a failed marriage and a messy divorce, Liz Gilbert (Roberts) decides that her life needs to head in another direction and so she sets off around the world for spiritual enlightenment. Travelling through Italy, India and Bali, Liz meets an array of characters who help her in the quest for self discovery.
Like a sunny ‘Wish You Were Here’ travelogue presented by toothy Julia Roberts, Eat Pray Love is an awful new-agey drama of sorts, featuring the 90’s most popular actress eating, praying and doing a little bit of loving in bright and picturesque locales. Yes, it really is as dull as it sounds. Based on the bestselling book by Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love’s biggest problem is its protagonist. Combining Roberts’ air of self-righteousness with the over-privileged, whining character of Liz Gilbert, the film recklessly spawns a hideous movie monster of pants-wetting proportions. But it’s not all Roberts’ fault. The direction and script are uncharacteristically flat, dim-witted and boring for Ryan Murphy, who brought/brings such a smart style and vivacious life to the likes of Nip/Tuck and Glee.
Bathed in golden sunlight throughout, Eat Pray Love is a film that does at least look good in high definition, and the exotic locations shine and sparkle with terrific clarity and colour. The sometimes stylised colour palette is a little distracting at times, and the intentional soft focus doesn’t really suit the hi-def format, but overall the film looks pretty enough. The audio provides a straight forward soundtrack that’s neither dazzling nor mind blowing, though with clear dialogue and music, there’s nothing to really complain about.
The extras are as dull as the movie itself, featuring a few short featurettes and a (yaaawn) music video.
Overall Verdict: A good looking but smug and tedious new age yarn of epic toothy proportions. Go away, Julia Roberts, nobody likes you anymore.
Special Features:
‘Better Days’ Music Video
‘Ryan Murphy’s Journey’ Featurette
‘The Beginning of the Journey’ Featurette
‘Praying in India’ Featurette
‘Finding Balance’ Featurette
Movie IQ
Review: Lee Griffiths
