DVD--Eat Pray Love

or: Eat Pray Sleep.

One word to sum it up: Tedious.

A movie about a woman spending a year eating in Italy, praying in India and loving in Bali. Couldn't be that bad, right? In Eat Pray Love's defense, I loved looking at the scenery. I also loved looking at James Franco. And Javier Bardem was a wonderful late addition to the movie. But seriously? This movie had to take 140 minutes away from me? Any chick flick shouldn't go over 100 minutes. So this movie basically meant 140 minutes with one of my least favourite actresses Julia Roberts playing a really unlikeable character and having absolutely no story to go back on. Yeah, Eat Pray Love was a fantastic movie.

This is based on the successful autobiographical novel by Liz Gilbert, here played by Julia Roberts, who is a woman who divorces her husband (Billy Crudup) out of marital boredom. Barely a while after this happens, she shacks up with aspiring actor David (James Franco), who proves to be just a fling to distract her from the other going-ons in her life. Soon she realizes that her 'appetite for life' is just gone, and decides to do something crazy: go on an overseas trip. First stop: Italy, where she eats all she can eat. Next up comes India, a place where she can pray and find her inner soul. She ends the year in Bali, where she meets Felipe (Javier Bardem), whom she ends up loving.

It makes me laugh that two of the five actors up for this years Best Actor Oscar are in this film. Then it makes me sad that such brilliant actors would resign themselves to having bit parts in a movie like this. Everything about it is so lacklustre. There isn't really a story or any narrative to speak of. Instead, we have to feel like we are being dragged around while Liz goes on her holiday. Hey, the scenery is pretty to look at, but once we've seen it, the novelty kinda wears off. In fact, the best moments that happen are early in the piece where Liz is going through her divorce, because it's easier to relate to her husband than anything else. After that, it is just a big, boring, slightly vain film all about a very dislikeable woman who takes more than she gives. At the end, when the film finally asks us to side with this woman, its difficult to even care. Which is a shame because it tried so desperately.

To put it in small words: there wasn't much for me to like in Eat Pray Love. Sure, I may be a little naïve to like a film that deals with pressing issues such as a divorced woman looking to let herself go, but I don't think I'm the only one who feels this way. Glee creator Ryan Murphy tried with this movie, and it's sweet that he did, but one must realize that in order to make a movie for chicks, you have to make it at least funny. Don't just make it as dismal as the lead character allows it to be. Because, in the end, where this movie failed was when it sold itself as a movie where you could 'let yourself go'. Unfortunately, I felt trapped, and the sweetest feeling was having the credits start rolling.

THE VERDICT: Julia Roberts admirable starpower doesn't overcome the fact that Eat Pray Love is an overlong piece on a very unlikeable character. Appearances from James Franco, Javier Bardem and Billy Crudup are good, though.

What I hoped for:

What I got:

(see what that means)



Classic--Almost Famous

or: Almost There.

One word to sum it up: (it) Rocks!

To start off 2011 with a feature film, I decided to go for a classic that I hadn't seen before. So I grabbed my iTunes voucher and rented Almost Famous (I never knew you could rent movies on iTunes!), and I'm glad that I did. Given that it has such a marvellous ensemble cast and such an interesting story, I can see why everyone kinda went nuts for it back in the day. It always makes me happy to know now that Kate Hudson was once a great actress, instead of the tabloid freenzy everyone gives her credit for.

William Miller (Patrick Fugit) is in love with rock'n'roll, but often has to hide it from his protective and overbearing mother, Elaine (Frances McDormand). At just 15 years old, he is hired by Rolling Stone magazine to go and tour with and write about a band called Stillwater. During this journey he discovers the ins and outs of touring with such a band, and also manages to fall in love with the free-spirited Penny Lane (Kate Hudson).

I've seen-and loved-my fair share of coming-of-age films, but none seem to come close to Almost Famous. It has such a positive vibe to it that it's infectious. However, it's not all happiness in this movie. What lies beneath the movies message is something that is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. It's all centred on someone who wants to break free who meets a set of people who seem to have broken free; but are also trapped in their world where optimism is never far away, though idealism is a far more realistic way to go. The way Cameron Crowe puts together this semi-autobiographical story is outstanding. He knows his characters and has a unique way of connecting them to the audience. He also knows a lot about what message he is trying to convey and effortlessly gives us an insight into the era where rock'n'roll ruled.

In 2001, Almost Famous an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (which it wholeheartedly deserved), a nomination for Best Editing and a couple of nominations in the Best Supporting Actress category for Frances McDormand and Kate Hudson. These two are great in the film. Frances McDormand is perfect as the overbearing mother who wants her children to immerse themselves in classic literature instead of the much easier rock'n'roll music. However, it really is Kate Hudson who steals the show with her emotional yet bouncy performance as Penny Lane, who is a free spirit with a dream of going to Morroco, after she is done with Stillwater. My advice: go back to films like these, Kate, because it's what you excel in. The rest of the ensemble cast, which includes Billy Crudup, Jason Lee, Anna Paquin, Zooey Deschanel and Philip Seymour Hoffman, are all fantastic, and contribute to a really awesome, if slightly overlong, rock'n'roll film which is an enlightening classic of it's time.

THE VERDICT: Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous is a brilliant account of a great era, featuring wonderful performances which are as great as it's soundtrack.

9/10