Julia Roberts turns in a solid performance in the book-turned-movie. The role calls for a fair amount of voice-over reading, a flexible enough body to hold meditation poses, and the occasional burst of tears.
Roberts may not be a comic actress, but there was supporting cast in each of the three nations that her character visited to provide the color. Lucca Spaghetti in Italy. Richard from Texas in India. Ketut the medicine man, and his wife, in Indonesia.
Admittedly, as a guy who chooses entertainment for plot rather than art, this review is tainted by having already read the book (see post), so I'll refrain from recommending whether or not you should watch it. What was fun (besides the peerless company) was comparing book and movie.
As would be expected, the book probed more deeply into a couple of relationships. First was the one between Liz Gilbert, the main character, and Ketut's wife... which was healed by a special gift provided by Gilbert. Then there was the relationship between Gilbert and herself, which gradually rose from sickeningly depressed to utterly free. She still makes the ascension here, and with admirable coverage given the limits of the two-and-a-quarter hour time frame. Finally, the medicine woman in Bali proves herself less worthy of a monetary gift in the book than her flawless personality in the flick suggests.
And fortunately, despite some manufactured drama near the end which threatens her happiness, Liz finds her happily ever after.
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