EAT PRAY LOVE
(PG, 140 mins)
Three stars
Julia Roberts, Billy Crudup, Viola Davis, James Franco, Richard Jenkins, Javier Bardem, Hadi Subiyanto, Tuva Novotny, Luca Argentero, Rushita Singh

Based on the memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love is a travelogue about a divorced woman’s journey in search of herself after a failed marriage has left her emotionally battered and bruised.

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Director Ryan Murphy’s film moves from New York to Italy, India and Indonesia, revelling in the changing architecture, landscape and cultures that provide a backdrop to the lead character’s reawakening.

It’s easy to see why Julia Roberts was attracted to the project: the allure of a strong, independent heroine coupled with sequences in Rome which allow her to gorge on pasta and pizza.

The film opens in Bali where magazine writer Liz Gilbert (Roberts) visits healer and medicine man Ketut Liyer (Subiyanto) for an article, and he reveals she will lose all of her money then get it back again.

Fast-forwarding those months and Liz’s marriage to Stephen (Crudup) ends in acrimony and she seeks temporary refuge with best friend Delia (Davis) before pursuing a divorce.

A brief dalliance with actor David (Franco) convinces her to embark on a year-long odyssey.

Liz heads to Rome where she makes friends with Swedish beauty Sofi (Novotny) and language teacher Giovanni (Argentero) and rediscovers her passion for food.

She heads next to India to an Ashram to find inner peace. A Texan called Richard (Jenkins) teaches her the basics about food hygiene, and a touching friendship with 17-year-old Indian girl Tulsi (Singh), who is about to enter an arranged marriage, reminds Liz of her own wedding day.

Returning to Bali, just as Ketut predicted, Liz continues to search for food for her wounded soul, including a very pleasant flirtation with divorced father Felipe (Javier Bardem).

As the title suggests, East Pray Love is bookmarked into chapters of gastronomic, spiritual and romantic fulfilment, with occasional flashbacks.

Roberts is luminous against breathtaking locations including Rome’s landmarks and colourful, sun-nourished eastern landscapes.

At 140 minutes, Eat Pray Love is not a short-haul flight of fantasy, and certainly by the end of Liz’s scoffing, soul-searching and swooning, audiences might well be feeling jet-lagged.

If it was writer-director Murphy’s intention that we would emerge from the cinema feeling like we had spent an entire year on the road with his lead actress, he succeeds.