"Eat Pray Love"

Some critics tore it to shreds; a few kind of liked it. As for me, I enjoyed it a lot! I went in with low expectations, and not as a Julia Roberts fan, and was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked her and the movie. The photography was beautiful (having been to Italy as well as India, I could relate to both places), the food close-ups were intentionally, of course, mouthwatering, and each of the male leads fulfilled their assigned roles quite accurately. (Each played a flawed character, who couldn't match up to "Liz." I recall reading the book (with commas) but I don't recall being thrilled with it, though I believe I liked it. The author of this "true" story (a writer in real life ) in her "search for herself" -- I guess that's what you'd call the motivation for her divorcing her husband (played by Billy Crudup), and going off to Italy, India, and ( a return trip to ) Bali. She eventually meets the ever charming and irresitable (he knocks her off her bicycle with his jeep) Javier Bardem ( an excellent match, finally!), having tried and discarded Billy Crudup (first husband) and James Franco (boyfriend). All of this predicted by a 'holy man" she had consulted on her first trip to Bali. Richard Jenkins is "Richard from Texas," giving an outstanding performance in which he mentors "Liz" (Roberts) while they are in the ashram in India. Excellent watching them together. It's not a great movie, and you can pick it apart if you wish, but if you're just out for a couple of hours of entertainment, my THREE STAR rating will suit your taste.