Went to see my cousin (James Franco) in Eat, Pray Love with my 89-year-old mom, last night. It was so boring she wanted to leave BEFORE her second? third? cousin Mitzi’s grandson from Cleveland even came on. And he was only the FIRST boyfriend.
I made her stay to see him, at least, and we agreed, James is VERY cute. (The server in the restaurant next door told us she wanted to KISS him). When James got dumped, my mom asked me if I wanted to leave. (I didn’t–I wanted to see how they handled the ashram scenes).
At one point, Mom handed me a kleenex because we were supposed to be feeling sorry for the Julia Roberts character, who was really wallowing. I apologized for making Mom stay. She told me no problem, she was enjoying the scenery (not sure if she meant James Franco or Rome) but, really, how many spaghetti closeups can one 89-year-old enjoy?
Made it through the ashram (which I thought was the best part of both the book and the movie, tho it’s not clear how Julia managed to have a spiritual conversion, her guru being a rather annoying Texan. ), then on to Bali. Not clear how, in book or movie, Julia managed to have a spiritual converversion, her guru being a toothless medicine man who didn’t have much interesting advice except to go for the Brazilian.
My mom could not understand why she would go for such an old guy if she wanted to have children. Especially when I pointed out that Julia Roberts is 42–but Mom said the character was supposedly in her 30s. She was very surprised to learn that it was a true story and that Elizabeth Gilbert, who wrote the book, ended up marrying the Brazilian. So he could stay in the US.
My mom, who is getting a bit forgetful, told me that if she forgot the title and went to see it again I have her permission to put her in a home.
The upshot: James Franco is hot. Eat first, love the person you see it with, and pray you don’t have to sit through it again.
–Anita M. Harris
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group of Cambridge, MA.
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