I know Brian Hedge via his work on the website Bradmouth. He’s a good writer and a funny dude. Last Monday, I wrote a review of the film Eat, Pray, Love. I mentioned that guys should see this movie, too, and Brian scoffed at this suggestion, saying no self-respecting MAN would see this movie. Then, he said he would write a review of Eat, Pray, Love, if I would post it on my blog. I adamantly agreed, because in order to write the review, he would actually have to pay for and sit through the entire movie. HA!
So without further ado, I present Brain Hedge’s review of Eat, Pray, Love, entitled …
Eat Pray Snooze
I paid ten bucks for this?
An expert backpacker creates conflict. They get blackout drunk, pick fights in bars, show up at bus stations at 3 AM, trust complete strangers, and push the envelope of allowable activities. They are the types that tell their backpack stories as adventures. They go skydiving, visit prisons, experiment with legal drugs, hike in cocoa fields, and develop long lasting relationships in mere seconds. They take risks and of course have some epic failures (most of them involve robberies or gonorrhea), but they live. And when they tell a story about their travels (and their friends pay attention for more than 3 minutes), it can be very exciting.
Liz Gilbert of Eat, Pray, Love is a poor backpacker. She rarely leaves her comfort zone. She lives alone in the same accommodations for months at a time. She does not travel to other cities and cops out of activities like a fat girl eyeing the stairs. Each destination, whether it is Italy, India, or Bali just feels like a new car added to a slow moving train. There is no buildup. It is just Liz Gilbert walking through life, often times representing the least exciting thing in the scene (think plants).
Understandably (I have a Y chromosome … I think), I never read the book that this movie is based upon. As a rule, I do not read travel books. I find them embellished, self-righteous, and really boring. Eat, Pray, Love does not disappoint in that regard. It is all those things with a little bit of Ambien mixed in.
Sorry, Julia, but Brian is not amused.
Haha, so you managed to get Brian, a man, to watch this movie and write a review. That is not bad!
Anyway, I’ll probably not watch this movie, not that I have anything against movies like these (I loved P.S. I Love You a lot), maybe it is just that I am not much into traveling.
Nicely written, thanks!
It was part of my ploy. (Sure, I’ll post your review, but you have to pay for a movie ticket first mwa-HAHA!) Never saw P.S. I Love You. Huh. Was it really worth it? I’m not usually big on so-called “chick flicks,” but I did love this book, so I had to try the movie. Maybe I’ll give more chick flicks a chance. Urg … well … maybe not. We’ll see. Doubt my boyfriend would really be into a change in my movie preferences. Especially if I head in the rom-com direction.
I love this review. I can totally “get it” from a guy’s perspective.
But as a girl, I also liked (not loved) the movie. I loved (not liked) the book. Making this book into a movie probably sounded better on paper than it turned out.
And I’m right with you on loving the soundtrack – that may be one of the better parts of the film.
I am a guy with interests in geek stuff like sci-fi and action movies but I got dragged into watching this by my girl friend.
And I have to admit that it is a nice movie. It is not a romantic comedy or anything like that. It doesn’t make you laugh but it does remind all of us to appreciate the people around us and never take them for granted.
A movie worth keeping. By the way since you are asking, there is a review written on my website comparing both the book and the movie. You can check it out if you want to.
http://www.ficklepeople.com/ViewReview.aspx?ReviewID=5
You got it all wrong. The film wasn’t an adventure travelogue. If that’s what you were expecting, go watch National Geographic. It wasn’t made to entertain you, which it sounds like movies must do for you. She is a 30+ something professional woman on an inner journey, not a back packer exploring Europe. I do believe you missed the point. Don’t bother reading the book, I don’t think you’d get it.
Hmm. Well, I think the movie would make me cry my eyes out, to be honest. Maybe. I’ll see it sometime, but I really don’t think I can talk Jake into watching it with me
Thanks for the suggestion! I might just pick up the book, too!
I cried when they played Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” at their wedding. Cried like a little baby. Soundtrack=excellence.
The best part of that comment, “it wasn’t made to entertain you”.
of course not
I see nothing wrong with an inner journey and your right, calling Gilbert a backpacker is a stretch.
I think what bothers me the most is that she bought an “I am silent” button at her church/cult gift shop. That didn’t seem odd to anyone else? Seems like she was trying WAY too hard.
I think my favorite travel movie is Before Sunrise. It lets dialogue guide you, not horrible narration.