Review of Eat Pray Love (2010) by Sowmya A — 19 Jul 2012

Was Julia really going to stop at the Casanova she met in Indonesia for the "Love" part, was it actually love? You cannot fool the audience Julia and Ryan Murphy. The script and the direction seemed bland and unfocused.

If the author of the book really did take into account the "Pray" part, then Julia didn't seem to be inspired at all by that. All she did during her supposed "spiritual enhancement journey" was dress up in a saree, look like an Indian granny and talk to an ageing American man on the roof of an Indian Temple.

What was this all about? Mr. Murphy with all due respect, if you didn't understand India much, you should have asked for some professional help or at least have visited India in person beforehand to gain if any spiritual experience.

I am an Indian, all my friends were really looking forward to how it was finally portrayed in the movie. We were devastated and humiliated at the failure of portrayal. They showed dark halls instead of the lit ones.

No actual praying, just Julia getting annoyed by being seated on floor and bothered by flies. She made a stupid looking bi-speckled friend of all the pretty and competent humans residing in the vast country.

They never shared any common interest and it seemed that Julia was just shoving the food down her throat for the camera. The script didn't even match the book. I understand the famous alibi of the filmmakers, "this is not by the book movie", but how come everyone in the audience enjoyed wholeheartedly the "Eat" part of the movie? It was full of life, wit and fun while the Pray and Love parts lacked any effort, understanding or zing.