Today I saw Julia Robert's movie that by all means was poised in my brain pan to get her the second Oscar. But that thought was dashed when I saw the movie.
The relationship with the husband seemingly was rocky, but it was never clear why. Perhaps the director chalked it up to interpretation by the audience, but that would have been a risky gamble and poor artistic choice. Such a moment needed to be clear cut.
The end troubled me, too. It was not satisfying. Had I written the flick (maybe they will consult me next time), would have been as follows (warning-- end of movie revelation; stop reading if you haven't seen the movie but plan to):
Elizabeth is faced with the inner dilemma of losing herself and her self-absorption to the Brazilian that she denies herself feelings for.
All through the movie, she was on the quest, like the Arthurian quest for the Grail (so that aspect of the movie greatly appealed to me). She had experienced what she had needed to to maintain the balance. But she is unbalanced by her selfish ways which she perceives as balance and can not see that.
She consults and bids farewell to her spiritual mentor in Bali who gives her an intellectual kick in the backside and she hoofs it to the dock to go riding off into the sunset with the guy.
I am a sucker for romantic, happy endings, so I do not disagree with the outcome.
However, I would have had her meditate over her dilemma. In the beginning, she consults the Christian God for advice, but gets none. I would have had her do the same, but through meditation. Instead of the narrative which describes the "physics of the quest", show it through clips of her journey and let her discover that all of her coincidences, characters that she met up with, all were her guides leading her to the final moment of balance. She can realize that with teary eyes and her big Julia Robert's smile. The Brazilian could find the note at his doorstep in the morning, go to the dock and life is happy in the end.
My suggested ending would have been an improvement (for me, at least), in that she solves the problems by herself. What was the point of her journey if some toothless old wise dude just gives her the answer on a plate.
So, change the ending, make the relationships and their problems clear and the Oscar would go to...
The relationship with the husband seemingly was rocky, but it was never clear why. Perhaps the director chalked it up to interpretation by the audience, but that would have been a risky gamble and poor artistic choice. Such a moment needed to be clear cut.
The end troubled me, too. It was not satisfying. Had I written the flick (maybe they will consult me next time), would have been as follows (warning-- end of movie revelation; stop reading if you haven't seen the movie but plan to):
Elizabeth is faced with the inner dilemma of losing herself and her self-absorption to the Brazilian that she denies herself feelings for.
All through the movie, she was on the quest, like the Arthurian quest for the Grail (so that aspect of the movie greatly appealed to me). She had experienced what she had needed to to maintain the balance. But she is unbalanced by her selfish ways which she perceives as balance and can not see that.
She consults and bids farewell to her spiritual mentor in Bali who gives her an intellectual kick in the backside and she hoofs it to the dock to go riding off into the sunset with the guy.
I am a sucker for romantic, happy endings, so I do not disagree with the outcome.
However, I would have had her meditate over her dilemma. In the beginning, she consults the Christian God for advice, but gets none. I would have had her do the same, but through meditation. Instead of the narrative which describes the "physics of the quest", show it through clips of her journey and let her discover that all of her coincidences, characters that she met up with, all were her guides leading her to the final moment of balance. She can realize that with teary eyes and her big Julia Robert's smile. The Brazilian could find the note at his doorstep in the morning, go to the dock and life is happy in the end.
My suggested ending would have been an improvement (for me, at least), in that she solves the problems by herself. What was the point of her journey if some toothless old wise dude just gives her the answer on a plate.
So, change the ending, make the relationships and their problems clear and the Oscar would go to...
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