Directed by Ryan Murphy (“Glee”), “Eat Pray Love” is the film adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert’s best selling memoir of the same name. The author’s self-admitted “freakish success” of the book resonated with women all over the globe. Unfortunately, the movie does no such thing, leaving the loyal readers as well as viewers new to the story scratching their heads, thinking, “If this is supposed to take me on a journey, where is this exactly going?”

The producers hired Academy favorites to convey the story, such as Oscar winner Julia Roberts in the lead, usually a sure thing on the big screen. The film also features a great caliber of men, including Billy Crudup as Liz’s ex-husband Stephen, James Franco as David, the new boyfriend, Oscar nominee Richard Jenkins as Richard, the wise soul, and Oscar winner Javier Bardem as the love interest. Rounding out the cast is Oscar nominated Viola Davis, who plays Liz’s best friend Delia.

This brilliant supporting ensemble combined with a high-cost and international production give the otherwise slow moving film watchability. From the truly delicious Italian meals to the spiritual Indian ashram rituals to the lush Indonesian tranquility of Bali, “Eat Pray Love” hopes to transport the viewer from country to country. Further it hopes to place the audience in Liz’s shoes, as though the person watching the film fully encapsulates the internal and external transformation one woman endures in the aftermath of her emotional crisis. But this never happens.

Unlike books, where the pages contain the characters’ most inner thoughts and feelings, dialogue and action reveal the drama of movies. Even if a voiceover is introduced, and in this case it is, the wrong splicing of chapters to fit the screenplay formula can cause a very sporadic viewing experience, with key details left on the cutting room floor, leaving the audience feeling disjointed and perplexed. This exact thing also happened with “Feast of Love,” an award-winning book written by Charles Baxter. The movie version, starring Greg Kinnear and Morgan Freeman fell quite short, losing the essence and wisdom of the novel. And, when this happens, the actors may be able to save the story, but not with “Feast of Love” and certainly not with “Eat Pray Love.”

Barring one specific scene, where Liz justifies her need to go on this quest to Delia, the rest of the screen time, Roberts never goes there. Before, this “Pretty Woman” charmed and connected to audiences in “Mystic Pizza” and “Steel Magnolias.” In this movie she cruises through her role without truly tapping into the “it” factor talent that made her the number one female box office draw for so long. Something has happened to the gorgeous and reliable actress since her last heart-warming performance in “Mona Lisa Smile.” These days, the difference between Meryl Streep and Roberts is that when you see Streep on the screen, you see the character. When you see Julia Roberts on the screen, you see Julia Roberts.

Bardem and Jenkins provide the only depth in this movie, and in one specific “on the roof” scene, Jenkins steals the show. However, as Roberts sits next to him and listens while he divulges his life’s heartbreak, the audience is,once again, left to wonder the timing of this revelation given that no additional background is provided. While Martin Scorsese and Guy Ritchie have become masters of the staccato editorial style, it works in stories of the underworld. However, it fails when trying to visually convey a plotline that’s anchored in a theme that the greatest journey one takes is the one within.

Ironically, at 133 minutes, “Eat Pray Love” is too short to tell the full story of the original memoir yet too long to make anyone really care about its main character. This is a shame given the beauty and resonance of reflections so intimate yet so universal that millions of multi-generational women, from all over the world, not only embraced the tale as their own, but also recommended it to their daughters, mothers, sisters and best friends. Given the quality of the film, if one hasn’t read the book, the paperback becomes the better leisurely investment.

DIRECTOR: Ryan Murphy SCREENWRITERS: Ryan Murphy, Jennifer Salt  CAST: Julia Roberts, Javier Bardem, Viola Davis, James Franco MPAA RATING: PG-13