Eat Pray Love - The Movie

Today was one of those days when I was actully caught up on laundry, cleaning the kitchen and the twins had only done minor damage to the house, so I got to sit and relax during their nap. I happened to catch the movie "Eat Pray Love" just as it was coming on and decided to give it a try.

I had looked into reading the book back when it was on the best-seller lists, but it just didn't grab me. I think the whole traveling to find oneself, meditation, spiritual awakening thing kept me away. I will be honest...you aren't going to find that I spend a lot of time reading the great philosophers or poets. There will be no Tolstoy, W.B Yeats, Walt Whitman, probably won't even find much from Jane Austen, and much to my oldest brother's dismay any JRR Tolkien or George R Martin. My theory is real life and my life in particular is complex enough, I don't want to have to spend too much time reading complex novels. Give me romance, suspense, mystery, humor. I tend to like "surface" stuff. Nothing too deep! So, I think the synopsis of the book "Eat Pray Love" scared me away from it.

Since there was nothing else on and I don't currently have a book in my hands to read, I decided to watch the movie. And I am happy to report I really enjoyed it. It did a wonderful job of making me wish I could be instantly transported to Rome, Italy because it was just beautiful and I so wish the American culture could learn something from the Italians. Don't just take a break but learn to take pleasure in things. Just breathe. A lesson I certainly need to learn.

A lot of time novels like this can bog down in the descriptions of the places, the people, and the surroundings so much that I begin to skip along to get to the action. This is the wonderful aspect of a movie. They can SHOW you these things rather than having to write them out. While I appreciate the talent it takes to describe something so vividly that it can instantly be seen in the readers imagination, sometimes it is more enjoyable to just see it!  This movie did that wonderfully. It made me very hungry for pasta, but I can't take on her attitude of just buying bigger pants!  I remember what my body looked like back before child birth and I long for it!!

It also helps that Javiar Bardem was the Love part of the movie. If my wonderful and handsome husband that I love dearly is reading this...Now is the time you might want to stop! I am pretty sure I could watch him in any movie and still come away thinking "that Penelope is one lucky lady".  Well, maybe not "No Country For Old Men."  He was rather terrifying in that movie and so was his hair! But in this movie -Spoiler Alert!- I was going to be really mad if she did not fall in love with him...which she did. I mean how could you not. He is one of those guys that may not be Brad Pitt good-looking but is so much more of A MAN if you know what I mean. I would choose him any day of the week and twice on Sunday over a Brad Pitt or George Clooney!

The movie had a good happy ending, which I like-call me a romantic-but I like everyone to be happy in the end. It was good, light, and fun. And I am good with that. Sometimes a movie or book doesn't need to have some profound meaning, Sometimes just making me feel good can make it be the best book or movie ever! Since I have already seen the movie, I don't think I will go back and read the book. What if the description of Felipe doesn't match the gorgeousness of Javiar Bardem!