Eat Pray Love

Eat Pray Love Information

Eat Pray Love (previously "The Virtues of Life") is a 2010 drama film starring Julia Roberts as Elizabeth Gilbert, based on Gilbert's best-selling memoir of the same name. The film was co-written and directed by Ryan Murphy. It opened in the U.S. on August 13, 2010.

Plot

Elizabeth Gilbert (Julia Roberts) 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. Newly divorced and at a crossroads, Gilbert steps out of her comfort zone, risking everything to change her life, embarking on 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; the power of prayer in India, and, finally and unexpectedly, the inner peace and balance of true love in Bali, Indonesia.

Cast

Julia Roberts as Elizabeth Gilbert
Javier Bardem as Felipe, a Brazilian businessman that Gilbert falls in love with on her journey
Billy Crudup as Steven, Gilbert's former husband
Richard Jenkins as Richard, a Texan whom Gilbert befriends at an Indian ashram
Viola Davis as Delia Shiraz, Gilbert's best friend
James Franco as David, the man Gilbert has an intense relationship with while she is finalizing her divorce
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 Bali
Hadi Subiyanto as Ketut Liyer, Gilbert's advisor in Bali
Tuva Novotny as Sofi, Gilbert's Swedish best friend in Rome
Luca Argentero as Giovanni, Gilbert's Italian tutor and Sofi's love interest

Production

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

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.

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

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 (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 Bencao by Bebel Gilberto
Wave by Joao Gilberto
Got to Give It Up, Part 1 by Marvin Gaye
'S Wonderful by Joao Gilberto
Better Days by Eddie Vedder
Attraversiamo by Dario Marianelli
Dreams by Fleetwood Mac

Release

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. In its initial ten-day run, it increased its revenue to a total of $47.2 million. Competing film The Expendables features Eric Roberts, Julia Roberts' brother, and the box office pitted Roberts versus Roberts. Hollywood.com commented that "sibling rivalry is rarely as publicly manifested" as this. The film, made on a budget of $60 million, has so far grossed $80,574,382 in the United States and Canada and has a worldwide total of $204,594,016.

Critical reception

Eat Pray Love received generally negative reviews from critics. Based on 191 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an overall approval rating of 36%. Its consensus states "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." Another review aggregate, Metacritic, calculated an average score of 50 based on 38 reviews.

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 Ryan 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." Pop culture website Somethingawful.com 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 movie "navel-gazing drivel" in October, 2010.

The BBC's Mark Kermode listed the film as 4th on his list of Worst Films of the Year, saying: "Eat Pray Love... vomit. A film with the message that learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all, although I think the people who made that film loved themselves rather too much"

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The film received generally negative reviews in the Italian press.

In Brazil, the film received some criticism due to the fact that Javier Bardem, the actor who portrayed Felipe, is Spanish, and speaks weak Portuguese.

Merchandising

Marketers for the film created over 400 merchandising tie-ins. Products included Eat Pray Love-themed jewelry, perfume, tea, gelato machines, an oversized Indonesian bench, prayer beads, and a bamboo window shade. World Market department store opened an entire section in all of their locations devoted to merchandise tied-in to the movie.

The Home Shopping Network ran 72 straight hours of programming featuring Eat Pray Love products around the time of the film's release. The decision to market such a wide range of products, hardly any of which were actually featured in the film, brought criticism from the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Washington Post and the Huffington Post.