Eat, Pray, Love

[mochakitty]

From Wikipedia:

Eat, Pray, Love is the title of an upcoming film based on the memoir of the same name by American author Elizabeth Gilbert, co-written and directed by Ryan Murphy. It began filming in August 2009. Filming locations for the film include New York, Naples (Italy), Pataudi (India), and Bali (Indonesia).

After trying and failing to become pregnant, a woman realizes she is not getting what she wants out of life, and, after a painful divorce, sets on a journey across the world.

Cast

Julia Roberts as Elizabeth Gilbert
Javier Bardem as Felipe, a man Gilbert falls in love with on her journey
Billy Crudup as Steven, Gilbert's former husband
Richard Jenkins as a Texan whom Gilbert befriends at an Indian ashram
Viola Davis as Delia, Gilbert's best friend
James Franco as David
Luca Argentero
Christine Hakim as Wayan, Gilbert's best friend in Bali.

Official Site

Official Twitter

Official Facebook

Eat, Pray, Love @ Imdb

Trailer

Poster

[LAX]

Julia Roberts? I'm out.

[hamhock]

Change the name of the movie to "Sick of. Your shit. Julia." and I'll go.

[MrsCatHead]

I'm reading this book and I hate to admit it but the author is buggin me. And Julia bugs me so maybe it's a good fit?

[WestEndGirl]

Hated the book, think Julia is miscast, and refuse to see Julia movies anyway.

[Atreides]

Mar 18, 2010 15:53:17 GMT -4 LAX said:

Julia Roberts? I'm out.

This. And you just know she's gonna take up a whole hour on Oprah while the two of them wax rhapsodic about nurturing your soul and all that other New Agey hoo-hah that Oprah loves.

[incognito]

So why is the book and author so bad? I'm only asking because I've never read it; the title has been enough to put me off this entire time. I'm getting a strong self-indulgent vibe from it. Can't imagine that Julia Roberts would improve upon the situation.

[magazinewhore]

Yes, the book is self-indulgent in a white, middle-class kind of way, which means she has to go to exotic locations to "find" herself. I liked the book when it came out (shut up, I was going through a break up). And now I want to see the movie, although I'm embarrassed about it. I will have to go see it alone and admit it to no one and then be ashamed about it (the SATC procedure).

It would be so much more effective to cast someone who's celebrity won't overshadow the story. i know that's not how Hollywood works, but it would be nice. If you took this down a couple notches; lose Julia and maybe make it a Masterpiece Theater movie, it would be cool. You guys are going to hate this, but had they cast someone like Claire Danes (the character is supposed to be about 33, after all) or even Gwyenth, I think it could have been more effective.

If I didn't know anything about Gwyneth and her pomposity, I would think she was an effective actress.

[Deleted]

I enjoyed the book, but I enjoy reading about places I'll never be able to afford to go. Why yes, I am a masochist!

But JR, ugh. You couldn't pay me to see her in anything.

[hal9000]

I've heard some excerpts on a road trip, but I will never read this book as it is an ex-friend's favourite (along with The Da Vinci Code, Harry Potter, naturally) and though I will never have contact with ex-friend again, I will not do her the satisfaction in my mindthat she convinced me to read it. Plus, Italy, India and Indonesia? I'd be more interested if it were France, Japan and Palestine, but that's just me.

But my grudging interest in this book lies in the fact that I am an avid listener of Slate's Audio Book Club podcast. The episode of several years ago in which two of the panelists had a huge on air fight about EPL will never, ever leave my iPod. It is that hilarious. One of the women, Katie Roiphe, liked the book with reservations, comparing it favourably with Elizabeth Whurtzel's Prozac Nation (WTF? New-age midlife crisis travelogue vs 90s, slacker-generation, third-wave Bell Jar wannabe?) citing the author's wit in admitting guilt when she lapsed into the cornier self-help stereotypes. The male manelist, Stephen Metcalf, unrelentingly loathed it. Everything that was mentioned that sounded really corny to me he pounced on and laughed at. Things came to a head upon discussing a scene at the ashram which I think features the character Richard Jenkins plays. From memory an aged hippie takes the narrator out to look at the stars and shares a goofy poem he wrote. Melcalf reads this poem and sounds more incredulous and horror-struck with each passing line. Roiphe takes his tone really personally, and turns into a total shrew. She starts shrieking over at him and goes apeshit, claiming he belittled the text with his sarcasm. He is stunned into changing the subject and the podcast kind of faded to an end. Sadly, they didn't appear together on many podcasts after that incident. The fireworks were fun.

If Julia's mouth touches James Franco's bare flesh I will be devasted. As magazinewhore mentioned, this would be far more plausible with a Claire Danes or Gwynnie type. Maybe a Toni Colette or Rosemarie DeWitt if we're going for less bankable names.