I’m glad I saw it.
Was it enjoyable? Yes.
Is Javier Bardem every woman’s dream? You bet. And every man’s dream as well.
After being seated, I started listening to the crowd (mostly young adult women edging up to middle-age) – they were charged, responding excitedly even to the previews of up-coming “chick-flicks” (no preview of “The Expendables” was shown – darn!) This movie clearly taps into a huge audience, and I suspect this movie will have legs: the ladies will see it multiple times and bring their husbands and boyfriends along (guys don’t worry; no explosions or car chases, but it’s a good story for us, too).
When the movie began, I thought I was in a screening of “Twilight” where hundreds of 12-year old girls exploded with giggles and screams at the first image of Edward Cullen (Robert Pattison). Now let’s be honest, I’ve had a few of those movie moments myself, where a much-loved book comes to life on the big screen, forever melding together what was read and what was scene!
Anyway, back to the movie. Bring the tissue box – there are more tears here than Mama dicing onions. In credit to the director (Ryan Murphy), none of it felt contrived – these characters have broken hearts and they’re broken people, as we all are. From a theological perspective, we’re sinners, so to speak, and when we discover our brokenness and our capacity to break someone else (hallmark of maturity), it’s gonna get teary-eyed, as it should.
I didn’t read the book, and probably never will (never’s a big word, isn’t it?). But the movie gives the impression that it’s a big book with a big story – a heart in search of selfhood. A woman trying to find herself apart from all the social and marital expectations woven into the fabric of her life and world. “Who am I?” is the driving question of the story, at least as the film delivers it.
Built on three themes: Eat (in Italy with new-found friends) and put on a few pounds, even if you have to buy some “big lady” jeans; pray in India (with new-found friends), and scrub floors in the Ashram; love (again) in Bali with a new-found man who loves his family deeply.
Julia Roberts is wonderful – playing well into her mature years. She’s beautiful and who can resist that mile-wide smile (slightly overplayed a time or two – we don’t need close-ups on her perfect teeth ever ten minutes).
Jarvier Bardem is terrific. And how I loved the relationship between father and son (“darling” – a term used for all of his sons) when his 19-year old son comes for a visit in Bali for a week, and then the departure, with plenty of hugs and tears – as it should be for two strong men who know the pleasures and power of a deep family love.
I appreciated the moment when Julia prays for the first time in her life – as her marriage evaporates, and she hasn’t a clue. Who of us really knows how to pray? But it’s heartfelt and powerful as she introduces herself to God. And if there’s an answer to such prayer, it’s the unfolding story, the quest – and as she later learns in India – “God lives within me as me.”
All along the way, plenty of fine performances, including one of my favorites, Richard Jenkins, who’s a “guy from Texas” seeking forgiveness and healing in India and becomes a mentor of sorts for Julia, calling her “Groceries,” because she’s still eating a lot. Here, and throughout the story, there are no easy or quick answers. Like a sculpture slowly chiseling away at the marble, it’s takes a lot of hammering to make a life!
One of the disappointments was cinematography – for a travelogue film, itt lacked cinematic bigness, but I was sitting in the third row, and that could make a difference (for that reason alone, I might see it again, but further back).
Obviously, this is a story about people for whom money is no issue. But that’s what the imagination is all about, and Julia’s travels are played with restraint – no five-star hotels. Though few in the audience could afford this kind of soul-searching journey, even at the hostel level, I doubt if anyone resented her opportunity. We are not watching a rich bitch sample the world; we journey with someone who has the rare opportunity to search for her life, a quest done with honesty and humility.
Is this a great movie? I don’t think so.
But it’s a great story – really everyone’s story – the quest for meaning and identity – found partly within ourselves, with good food and friends and prayer, and found in our love for others and their love for us – only when we can let go, and that’s the dangerous part of the deal.
Worth seeing in the theater? I’d say so! And guys, you’ll enjoy it, too.
