"Eat Pray Love"

Title: "Eat Pray Love"
Director: Ryan Murphy
Producers: B. Pitt, D. Gardner, J. Kleiner, S. Wlodowski, etc...
Editing: Bradley Buecker
Composer: Dario Marianelli
Starring:
- Julia Roberts as Elizabeth Gilbert
- Javier Bardem as Felipe,
- Billy Crudup as Steven
- Richard Jenkins as Richard
- Viola Davis as Delia Shiraz
- James Franco as David
- Sophie Thompson as Corella,
- Mike O'Malley as Andy Shiraz

Plot and Critical Review: (For whatever reason, the plot synopsis provided on Wikipedia is only two sentences long. Insufficient. Here's a synopsis from pluggedin.com, a ministry of Focus on the Family. URL Link at the end.)

How would you feel if you could live the life you've always dreamed of? A great house. A devoted spouse. Adoring and well-behaved children. Interesting friends. Fun activities. A successful career. You'd be deliriously joyful, right? Grateful? Maybe a little relieved?

In Liz Gilbert's case, she already has many of these things but is crying-on-the-floor-every-night miserable. Nothing she has carefully constructed her life to be meets her expectations. And now she feels as if she's trapped in her New York City dream house. Stuck with her committed husband. Floundering among all the color-inside-the-lines clichés she feels her life has become.

She used to marvel. Now she broods. She doesn't even think she has a pulse anymore. Her once voracious appetite for life now nibbles on the endless everydayness of the world she once dreamed of. Her solution? To bolt.

Based on the real-life Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling memoir, Eat Pray Love is one woman's year-long attempt to find unparalleled food and spiritual self-actualization. First, she finds a lover, David. Then she divorces her husband, Stephen—even though he begs her to work on the relationship with him. Then she leaves David, too, and goes to stay with her friend Delia. Eventually Liz jets around the planet to Italy, India and Indonesia to experience life as she thinks it should be lived—with adventure, gourmet goodies, reckless abandon, personal enlightenment and freedom.

In Italy she crams carbs until her new spare tire must be maneuvered into her skinny jeans. At an ashram in India she meets a whiskered Texan named Richard and learns how to "forgive herself" and let go of regret. And in Bali a medicine man named Ketut, a healer woman named Wayan and a sensitive Brazilian lover named Felipe finally lead her to what she believes is peace. (http://www.pluggedin.com/videos/2010/q4/eatpraylove.aspx)

What "Eat Pray Loves" lacks in storytelling and plot it makes up for in visual beauty. Roberts is as beautiful as she's ever been, and she glows in the exotic places she visits. Alas, the film doesn't quite reach the same depth of spiritual and emotional discovery which permeated Gilbert's best-selling book. It isn't the first film to fall short of the source of inspiration, but "Eat Pray Love" disappointed many hundreds of thousands of viewers who had hoped for an emotionally faithful representation of Gilbert's text.

My Rating: 4.5/10

Content to Caution:
V-.5 - No comment.
L-2.5 - No comment.
DU-1 - Some drinking, and drinking unto drunkenness.
RT-1.5 - An American in a foreign land is bound to get picked on.
H/S-0 - No comment.
CH-2 - Sex and sexual preference is joked about several times, and certain body parts are mentioned using slang terms.
S/N-2 - Some kissing. Gilbert and a man are naked in a pool, but nothing is shown.

In September of 2010 I did an initial review and reflection of "Eat Pray Love" which I posted on Facebook. The response to my review was tremendous. Some adamantly disagreed with me and said they would boycott the movie entirely. Others were genuinely moved by the experience they had when they saw the film and felt that it truly expressed elements of the human experience. I appreciated everything that was said, even if some of the comments bordered on being personally abrasive. The responses of all who got into the conversation helped me to gaze into but one side of the film, and i'd like to present another "take" in this format.

The "Reel Revelation": "Journeying"

Have you ever heard someone say, "I need to go for a walk to help clear my mind"? It seems to help, doesn't it?! Perhaps it's the release of endorphins, the gentle cadence of one's feet on the pavement, or maybe there really is some sort of brain-clearing property in fresh air! Whatever it is, getting out and taking a stroll does help to sort things out and get our focus on the task at hand. A walk! How much more good would an extended "walk" do us. Many people from many backgrounds and faiths have felt called to do just that; take an extended trip to help find themselves, reconnect with God. and renew their purpose in life. Such a venture is often called a pilgrimage, although here we'll simply call it a journey.

In trying to define what a journey of this type looks like, we can probably agree it's not going to be like a vacation. We might go somewhere we've never been before and see new things, meet new people, and have new experiences, but vacations are almost always taken solely for pleasure. That's not to say that vacations can't include elements of spiritual discovery (my vacation to Italy in 2002 was overflowing with it!), but based on the way we crowd vacations with itineraries and "places of interest", it's probably not the sort of journey we're looking to take in order to reconnect with Christ. Indeed, a spiritual journey is one we don't even plan ourselves but are called to take.

Herein lies the great difference between Elizabeth Gilbert's journey and the one we might take in order to renew ourselves spiritually. Gilbert planned her trip based on the experiences she wanted to have; in Italy she'd eat, in India she'd pray, and in Indonesia she'd find romance and true love. Sounds like a great vacation! But a spiritual journey is based upon going where God calls us to experience Himself, not the other way around. Have you ever taken such a journey?

By now it seems that spiritual journeys have to happen somewhere else, in a new environment. While that's not entirely untrue, we can't put God in a box and presume that He'll only meet us in a place far away. This is where our concept of journey is challenged, for we have thus far operated on the presumption that a journey takes us to another physical location. What about a journey through your conscience, your passions, your dreams, or your past? You don't have to go far to step into those places! And while going to a distant place can help us to clear our minds in order to fully address the issues within, God is just as likely to take us on a journey of discovery and discernment precisely where we are. There's no better time to go on such a journey than during the season of Lent.

And what can we expect on such a journey, regardless of where we take it, or how? There are probably a thousand books on self-help and modern spirituality which will suggest ways to "make the most of your spiritual journey", but I don't think we have to look any further than the example of Jesus, who took a very special journey Himself. You probably remember the story of when Jesus went into the wilderness for 40 days (or so) immediately following His baptism in the Jordan River. And what did Jesus do out there?

- He fasted, and His fasting gave way for purification of self. Even the One who was without sin needed time to get rid of distracting thoughts.

- He prayed, and His prayers led to renewed courage and confidence in the will of His Father. Even Jesus needed to be reminded of His purpose, for there would be many who would discourage Him and try to throw Him off course.

- He was tempted by the devil, who challenged His authority. Jesus didn't try to reason with the devil or...He stood on God's Word alone and disrupted Satan's attack.

Whether we go into a literal wilderness or journey through the unknown lands of the self, we can expect the same of our own spiritual journey:

- We will fast from worldly pleasure, that our hearts might be purified for God's purposes. (Titus 2:11-14)

- We will pray to our Father, and He will come to us and minister to us, giving us direction and assuring us of His unwavering love. (Deut. 4:29)

- We will be tempted and pressed by the devil to sin against God. We will face the choice to stand on God's Word or to navigate the twisted corridors of temptation by ourselves. (Hebrews 2:14-18)

If it sounds like a lot of work, don't be discouraged. This sort of labor is blessed by God. Will it be tough? Yes. But in "working out" our salvation with "fear and trembling" (Phil 2:12), we grow closer to God and nearer to the heart of Jesus. We learn about ourselves and learn how God is active in our lives and in our world. By God's grace we also learn how to live in peace with those around us, and thus extend God's Kingdom. Whether God calls you to an exotic destination or summons you right where you're sitting as you read this, those are all results which make a spiritual journey of any type more than worthwhile.

Safe travels!

See you tomorrow- E.T.