Eat Pray Love (movie)

I'd like to begin by saying that my interest in the book and the movie adaptation derives from watching Elizabeth Gilbert's TED talk on inspiration - I think it's the best TED talk available. She is funny and peaceful and a bit spiritual, and this intrigued me enough to read Eat Pray Love, although the first several pages I read a the bookstore before purchasing it didn't promise any grand life insights. Ultimately, I think the book is such a bestseller not because it is supposed to inspire you to think or rediscover things (something I think each good book must inspire), but for two reasons: a) it talks about self failure and depression, and successfully coming out of it and feeling like a worthwhile person again; b) it exposes the intimate thoughts of a real person, and that's something people are always addicted to.
Overall, the book was...maybe worth reading once. I'm not sure the movie deserves anywhere near this praise.
The movie is weak and diluted. Each period of Liz's life attempts at showing the symptoms of her inner struggles, but fails at every turn. It really tries to combine effective editing and stylistic approach with the atmosphere of Liz's journey, it's quietness or festivity, and doesn't make it work. The supporting characters, that added such flavor and variety to the book... are downplayed and simplified in the movie - then one has to ask, why are they kept at all? There are many moments, where in the book we are supposed to witness an emotional transformation, a lesson learned, and in the movie - the plot moves without evoking anything out of the audience... Generally, whoever was making this took the wrong approach - the approach of a semi-observer, the typical Hollywood approach to every separate section of the movie.
For example, in the Italy section, we get these closeups of the food, and whose of us who have read the book understand that we're supposed to feel this self indulgence keenly... But we can't - because the close up the food is rather random when you take into account the general approach to the way Italy is portrayed.
Richard from Texas in the India section almost made me cry - from anger. What did they do to him? Why did they make him a man who yells? I really like the actor, and the bit where we find out about Richard's past life, but overall - what kind of mentor is that?
In Bali, the movie took a turn toward a Romantic I don't know what. It was still supposed to be about the people, the strangeness of the place, about learning what level of maturity you want in a person... and that was also all kind of...not there.
Wayan the healer, who has a deeper purpose in the book and life of the author, here is just a woman who comments on Liz's sex life and divorce.

Overall, the movie tries so much to reproduce everything from the book that many elements had to be narrowed - which results in everything feeling shallow and underdone. While the book provided some sort of emotional connection to Liz, one has to struggle to connect at all to the Liz of the movie.