My wife bought several copies of the book Eat Pray Love to share with friends. She wasn't alone. The book was an example of a viral success—spreading from one to others. It struck a chord, especially among women, perhaps because it was a very internal experience as author Elizabeth Gilbert sought for meaning in her life. Unfortunately, such internal journeys are difficult to translate into film.

After discovering her discontent in marriage and then in a love affair, Gilbert sets off on a year long pilgrimage in search of wisdom that will help her find joy and meaning in her life. First she goes to Italy, ostensibly to learn Italian, where she spent her days in the sybaritic of food and friends. Her Italian friends taught her to enjoy "il bel far niente"—the beauty of doing nothing.

Next she heads to India to learn from a guru she learned about from her lover. Here she seeks spiritual enlightenment. It isn't easy for her. She seems to think that someone will give her the right concept that will allow her to see her life in a new way. Instead, she just struggles to do her meditation and her job within the ashram (scrubbing floors). But she is befriended by another American, Richard, a loud Texan who speaks in aphorisms, but is constantly pushing Liz to look at things in new ways. He has his own struggles as well. In time she comes to an understanding of forgiveness that allows her to move on to her next phase.

In Bali, she meets with a medicine man to try to find a sense of healing. This is to be where she synthesizes the various experiences of Italy and India into a kind of wholeness. This is where her life is supposed to come together. Her mentor there teaches her to live a life of balance—time meditating as in India, and time enjoying all the things in the world around her as she had in Italy. But then she falls in love and the risks inherent in that threaten to undo all she has learned during her journey.

It needs to be noted that this year of travel to find her life's meaning is basically an exercise in bourgeois decadence. This is most evident during her stay in Italy, but it carries over to the other destinations as well. It is also, by its very nature, a bit ego-centric, although along the way she does discover how important it can be to let others into your life.

There are occasionally important insights she receives during her travels; for example, in Rome she visits the ruins of the Augusteum (a temple built to hold Augustus's ashes). In understanding that the living city of Rome is built on the ruins of previous societies, she reflects that our lives rebuild themselves in much the same way. In India she came to believe, "God dwells within you, as you." In Bali she learned that sometimes losing balance for love is part of living a balanced life.

There is certainly a spiritual aspect to the film. Some of the insights are well worth considering. But overall, it is all very superficial. All of the societies and religions that are part of this journey have depth and currents that cannot be adequately explored in a two hour world tour. She comes a long way from her first prayer, ("Hello God, nice to finally meet you") to her hours of meditation and "smiling with her liver," but we aren't really sure how it happens. We don't get to experience the joys of the world's best pizza in Italy (and it doesn't look all that special in the film). We don't find enlightenment or peace in the ashram. There is no real coming together of everything for us in Bali. I think this reflects some of the limitations of the medium of film to translate this type of story.

Although I didn't read the book, I suspect that what made people read it and then share it with others was that within those pages they did find enough of those things to have a taste of the experience. It was not just a diversion from the mundane. It gave readers a chance to enter in some way into that journey of discovery.