EAT PRAY LOVE: Avoid

In the interests of full disclosure I'm declaring upfront that I am not a member of the EAT PRAY LOVE target audience. I am not a middle-aged woman suffering from a mid-life crisis. 
But in general, I don't believe that being outside a film's target audience automatically precludes one from enjoying the story. Plenty of men like a good chick flick even if it's not something they'd necessarily admit to their mates in the pub.

However, EAT PRAY LOVE is an exception, although I'm not convinced even the target audience will be taken in by the hogwash offered up by director Ryan Murphy..
While I have every sympathy with a protagonist who discovers on reaching their early forties, that their career or personal path is not one they wish to follow any longer, and decides to make a (sometimes wrenching) break with everything that is familiar and safe to chart a new, often uncertain route on their own, I'm really not interested in watching it all play-out in what seems like real time. Especially when finding one's self is, by its very nature, a self centred, self indulgent pursuit of limited appeal to any outsider. 
EAT PRAY LOVE's strategy to win us over and generate within us a strong sense of empathy for the protagonist (Julia Roberts as Liz Gilbert) is to walk us through the misery that her life has become with husband Stephen (Billy Crudup) so we can understand where she's coming from.
Except it's not exactly a living hell and the film's efforts to paint Stephen as the bad guy are unconvincing. It's somehow his fault that this life isn't what Liz wants anymore, when the reality is they're equally to blame for letting their relationship drift away from them.
Liz's solution to her situation is to fulfill her long held dream to travel abroad, and lengthy sojourns in Italy, India and Bali allow her to not only discover her balance but also to absorb words of wisdom concerning life, love and the pursuit of happiness proffered by the locals. These priceless nuggets are actually little more than trite fortune cookie-style mottos but are magically endowed with great meaning because they're uttered by characters whose native language is not English. It's disheartening to realise that in 2010 this particular patronising cliche is still alive and well in the world according to Hollywood.
Combine this outdated stereotype with a travelogue approach to Liz's journey and the result is a perfect storm of boredom which builds to an entirely predictable and cliched climax. 
Roberts tries her hardest to breathe life and credibility into the hackneyed storyline but succeeds only in embarrassing herself. The only saving grace is that she's not alone in her embarrassment. Richard Jenkins, who was rightly Oscar nominated for his superb performance in "The Visitor,"  spouts some of the worst dialogue I've heard in an awful long time, while James Franco is required to do little more than channel the "Pretty in Pink" and "St Elmo's Fire" era Andrew McCarthy. Javier Bardem as Liz's Brazilian lover is the only cast member who escapes with his dignity at least partially intact.
EAT PRAY LOVE is a monumental waste of time and money filled with unengaging two dimensional characters spouting drivel. Save your time and money and SEE ANOTHER FILM.