Eat Pray Love

Director: Ryan Murphy
(Director/ writer of Glee, Nip/Tuck, and Running With Scissors. Thus, he is a pretty successful director in terms of writing to create new trend in media)
Writer: Ryan Murphy & Jennifer Salt (the fellow Nip/Tuck writer)
Based on the book by: Elizabeth Gilbert
Starring: Julia Roberts as Liz Gilbert

Before any type of a review about the movie, isn't the title itself just beautiful? Those three things - done right, of course - are truly the most magnificient words that make people happy. When I heard about the movie, and the book of course, I just fell in love with the phrase first. However, until you watch the movie, you have no idea what the phrase actually means.

Okay, so I feel a little guilty that I didn't read the book. Usually, I am not the type of a person to have read the book first, and anxiously wait for the movie to come out. I am one of those people who lack the patience to read the entire book, so end up watching the movie instead. But, at least I read the book later, if I liked the movie. I know, this is probably the worst idea ever for those literature folks, but to defend those people like me out there, movies are just visually and audibly stimulating; it stays me awake....

Anyway, enough of the book talk. Eat Pray Love goes through a journey of a mid-aged woman who is just sick and tired of her life, especially her relationship. So she takes a year off of her schedule to just leave, and find little pieces of herself at three different countries: Italy, India, and Bali. At each location, she learns how to truly enjoy each things, to eat, to pray, and to love. It's really the way that each of these are beautifully portrayed in each country. I really liked the "how to enjoy eating" part. The idea was all about, eat to enjoy the taste and setting (usually with loved ones or even enjoying a quiet time alone). Don't think about what will happen after eating this piece of pizza, just enjoy it and be happy, because when you are content, then your body is content. period.

There was this beautiful phrase in the movie: il dolce far niente! (the sweetness of doing nothing!)
I love that phrae! Sometimes we are so busy with work or thinking about work, that there is no time to just sit on a nice compfy sofa with a cup of tea and just not think about anything. We equate doing nothing with being lazy, and we try to substitute relaxing with more activities, but sweetness of doing nothing means to literally do nothing and to just sit and not think. Literally, take a break, starting with your mind first.

Also, for those who loves to travel, this movie will take you to the most beautiful places, and the most authentic places of those three countries. The cinematography is wonderful. One another thing that I really liked was that each country was not overly beautified. I think audience these days are open enough that they want to see the real side, poverty-striken side of each country. And, people know that those places are so rich with their own unique culture than the westernized city parts. For a commercialized movie like this one to pick up on those beauty is quite an improvement for the movie industry.

The true beauty of the film ultimately is that this is a true story. I am sure that all the people these days only dream about taking a year off to just travel. It's a dream that keeps everyone alive and working/studying relantlessly. For someone to have actually gone through such a wonderful experience, and to have come up with such a beautiful lesson, that's something that everyone dreams of doing, or even should dream of doing.

I've been telling few of my close friends to watch this movie when their life seems like it's just stuck in a nasty stalemate. Eat Pray Love will make anyone want to just try to enjoy life, starting with the most basic: to eat, to pray, and to love.