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Eat Pray Love Review

Movies.com Critics

2.5

Dave White Profile

Touch an elephant, achieve enlightenment. Read full review

2.0

Jen Yamato Profile

Eat, Pray, Love, Barf Read full review

Other Critics provided by Metacritic.com

Critics scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 3.0
    50

    out of 100

    Metascore®
    Mixed or average reviews
    based on a weighted average of all
    critic review scores.

  • 30

    out of 100

    Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

    Still, Eat Pray Love preaches a sermon it doesn't practice-the need to open one's self to the world. In a pictorial sense this is exactly what Liz does; she vacuums up the transformative essence of three continents. Yet the world gets weirdly short shrift because this transcendently narcissistic movie is, in a narrative sense, almost entirely about Liz and the movie star who plays her.

    Read Full Review

  • 50

    out of 100

    Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

    Shameless wish-fulfillment, a Harlequin novel crossed with a mystic travelogue, and it mercifully reverses the life chronology of many people, which is Love Pray Eat.

    Read Full Review

  • 50

    out of 100

    Variety Justin Chang

    Director Ryan Murphy's superficial take on Elizabeth Gilbert's phenomenally successful memoir is an exotic junk-food buffet that offers few lasting pleasures or surprises, let alone epiphanies.

    Read Full Review

  • 50

    out of 100

    USA Today Claudia Puig

    The whole journey feels like a rich girl gone slumming. And for those of us along for the ride, it's a bit of a slog.

    Read Full Review

  • 50

    out of 100

    The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

    The film never ventures, even once, into a situation that does not reek of comfy familiarity.

    Read Full Review

  • 58

    out of 100

    Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

    If only Roberts' warmth, coupled with Javier Bardem's scruffy sexiness as Felipe, were enough to compensate for the folded-map flatness of this production.

    Read Full Review

  • 70

    out of 100

    The New York Times A.O. Scott

    The film offers an easygoing and generous blend of wish fulfillment, vicarious luxury, wry humor and spiritual uplift, with a star, Julia Roberts, who elicits both envy and empathy.

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  • 70

    out of 100

    Los Angeles Times Betsy Sharkey

    If there is one constant in Eat Pray Love, the imperfect yet beautifully rendered adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir on a year of heartbreak and healing starring Julia Roberts - it is this: There will be tears.

    Read Full Review

  • See all Eat Pray Love reviews at Metacritic.com

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For Families provided by Common Sense Media

OK for kids 14+

Find-your-bliss film appeals but raises questions, too.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this romantic drama based on the best-selling memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert examines what happens when a woman walks away from the life (and husband) she knows to travel the world in search of meaning, balance, and joy. That’s fairly heavy material for tweens, which is part of why this movie is more age-appropriate for teens and adults, who will be better able to appreciate the movie's life lessons. Expect some discussions about sex, celibacy, and relationships; a few glimpses of a naked male butt; and some swearing (including "s--t" and one "motherf---er") and drinking (including one scene in which a character gets quite drunk).

  • Families can talk about the movie's messages. Who do you think it's trying to reach? What is it saying to that audience?
  • Liz finds her bliss through a complete change in scenery, literally and figuratively. How realistic is this option for most people? What do you think would have happened if she hadn't been able to escape?
  • What eventually persuades Liz to leave her husband? Is her struggle relatable? Believable?

The good stuff
  • message true3

    Messages: The movie suggests that when you find yourself living a life that turns out to not be what you wanted or dreamed of, it’s time to reboot, even if that means a complete overhaul. Yes, feelings will get hurt, and the pain may last for months or even years. But the risk is worth it, the movie says, to find happiness.

  • rolemodels true2

    Role models: Liz is lost in the beginning of the movie. She doesn’t like the life she has, and she doesn’t know how to get the one she wants. She opts to take big risks to seek wisdom and joy, which is admirable. But there are casualties in her search for enlightenment.

What to watch for
  • violence false0

    Violence: Not an issue

  • sex false2

    Sex: Couples kiss tenderly. Lots of flirtation, some references to “sexy time,” and talk about a woman's need to end her self-prescribed celibacy. In one scene, a man strips down and asks the main character to go skinny dipping -- viewers see his bare backside a couple of times.

  • language false3

    Language: Words used include "s--t," "screw," "ass," “goddamn," "hell," "damn," "oh my God," and “bulls--," plus one “motherf---er.”

  • consumerism false1

    Consumerism: Not many labels, but the book and the movie have encouraged many Eat Pray Love-inspired product tie-ins

  • drugsalcoholtobacco false2

    Drinking, drugs and smoking: Some social drinking at parties, bars, and restaurants. A woman gets drunk at a a party and suffers a huge hangover the morning after. Some references in casual conversation to Xanax and meth.

An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology.

© Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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Fan Reviews provided by

Average Rating: 3.765
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by rreese1

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by slondoggy14

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by lizcass

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