Of Pizza, Love and Elephants

Eat Pray Love is an obvious story with no surprises. After Gilbert has eaten and prayed, she will find love

01 October 2010

THE PRETTY WOMAN is going through a mid-life crisis and somehow we are supposed to care about it. There was a time when the thrill of seeing a Julia Roberts movie would be in looking at her wide mouthed, somewhat self-conscious smile with sparkling teeth and loud, awkward laughter.

Roberts’ decision to act in Eat Pray Love—a film based on a memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert—is interesting. Although Roberts and Gilbert did not live similar lives, there is enough in common between the two—especially the fear of commitment.

Roberts went through several unhappy relationships with movie stars. None of them matched the success of her professional life. Roberts walked out on a near-marriage to actor Kiefer Sutherland without any explanation. In fact, her 1999 film Runaway Bride paralleled her personal life at that time. In 2002 Roberts married cinematographer Daniel Moder and has had three kids with him. As she turns 47 this year, she has slowed down her acting career.

Aseem Chhabra is a freelance writer based in New York City who writes on arts, entertainment and social and political issues.

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