Will Hollywood ruin another popular book?

By Sydney Smith

'Eat, Pray, Love" comes out in theaters Friday.

The movie, based on Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling memoir of the same name, stars Julia Roberts as Gilbert, a New York writer and wife.

While she always thought she wanted to be a wife and a mother, she realizes that after a few years of marriage, she doesn't and that she needed out. From everything.

So, after divorcing her husband, she quits her job, packs her bags and sets off for a yearlong "search" to figure out what she does want.

The plan? Visit three "I" countries: Italy, India and Indonesia.

In Rome, she eats. In an Indian village, she prays. And in Bali, she, you can assume, finds something or someone to love.

I read the book earlier this year. A quick read, it's an easy and interesting enough story to jump into. Well, if you're in the target audience, that is. I couldn't imagine one of my guy friends ever picking it up.

My major complaint with it was that it seemed to be missing something. Once she got past the divorce, everything seemed so easy for Gilbert to pull off.

My slightly more trivial complaint with the book is from the Italy section, which took me forever to get through. Why? Because almost the entire section is about food, and every five pages it seemed like I had to put the book down to get something to eat.

The Italian food she eats is its own character, the star of the country's section almost.

While I liked the book enough, I'm not in the "it's the best book ever" fan club. So, I've had mixed feelings about seeing the movie. Because the book has been a best-seller for three years, I expect theaters will be packed.

From its 2006 release to now, the book has been somewhat inescapable at bookstores and libraries. Thematically, it's been labeled spirituality, travel, memoir and more, so it's had a large crossover appeal.

Since I'm pretty indifferent to Roberts, her starring role doesn't make it a must-see for me. But, the cast may be a big draw for audiences.

From the previews, she seems to be a great choice to play Gilbert. Javier Bardem, Billy Crudup, James Franco, and Richard Jenkins play the various men who come in and out of her life.

I also don't know if I can bear staring at larger-than-life pizza, pasta and gelato on the movie screen while I'm stuck settling for popcorn and SnoCaps.

After seeing a couple of trailers for the movie, I've decided I'll see it and probably in theaters. Even though the story doesn't attract me so much, the movie will offer some wonderful scenery and will be probably be a relaxing way to spend a couple hours.

Which is why "Eat, Pray, Love" will probably do really well. Because even if you haven't read the book, it will be an easy, enjoyable enough flick.

Between the book's success and Roberts' fan base, the movie is bound to bring out "Eat, Pray, Love-rs" to theaters this weekend.