The New York Times Bestsellers list was home to Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert for some time. A film was put into production starring Julia Roberts. The authorities weren’t impressed. The Sex and the City sequel released earlier this year, also a quasi-feminist travel film, was also pilloried by critics, and it may be the genre is beginning to wear thin.
An additional person’s self discovery is incredibly scintillating
The book is part self help guide, spiritual quest, and travelogue about how Elizabeth Gilbert dumped her husband out of blue to go travel and rediscover herself. She got a huge advance from her publisher to make the book happen. The film stars Julia Roberts, James Franco, Billy Crudup, and Javier Bardem, and it was directed by Ryan Murphy.
Eat, Pray, Love movie review scores are low
Rotten Tomatoes gave the film less than 40 percent on the day of release. A review from PRI’s The World by Beth Accomando said “more like eat, pray for it to be over, gag.” Adam Graham, of the Detroit News, deemed it “an ridiculous fantasy for rich individuals.” Roger Ebert was not pleased in his review in the Chicago Sun Times. He said that to truly understand the film, “I guess you’ve to belong to the narcissistic subculture of Woo-Woo.” In the Christian Science Monitor, Andy Klein writes that as Robert’s character learns meditation, it “involves emptying her mind – which shouldn’t take much heavy lifting.”
Critics getting critical
While film critics are often gleeful (maybe too much so) to put as much venom as possible in a review, it appears that there is a common theme. The book did very well, after all, for a reason. It is a optimistic leaning work, that embraces an individual getting in touch with their spiritual side. Not everybody will react well to that. Sometimes, themes and literary devices work better on the page than on the screen. What inspires and uplifts some bores other individuals to the point that they’d rather beat their head against the wall. It seems lots of individuals discover Eat, Pray, Love to be more banal than beneficial.
Citations
Rotten Tomatoes
rottentomatoes.com/m/eat_pray_love/
Roger Bert
rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100811/REVIEWS/100819999
SC Monitor
csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Movies/2010/0813/Eat-Pray-Love-movie-review
