For girl-type people, writer-director Ryan Murphy's adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir "Eat Pray Love" was the second-most-anticipated film of the summer (behind "Sex and the City 2"), but sadly it appears to be sharing the same harsh reviews that Carrie and company received in May.

Writing in The Times, critic Betsy Sharkey zeroes in on the problem: tears. She writes that Murphy "wrings all of his actors emotionally dry, scraping to the bone to expose vulnerability, but he hasn't quite figured out how to control that power. So this gorgeous but messy affair isn't always as satisfying as it should be."

Elizabeth Gilbert's "Eat, Pray, Love" -- the 2006 bestselling memoir of a post-divorce journey of self-discovery -- suggested a natural big-screen adaptation, what with the book's huge fan base and exotic locales that offer attractive, ready-made set pieces.

The trailer for the new Julia Roberts vehicle, which was released Thursday morning, confirms that instinct. The film's backdrops are impressive, and the trailer, like the book, effectively conveys the memoir's theme of a mundane life redeemed by a grand gesture.

It, of course, requires a tricky balance to portray that universal feeling while still endearing the main character to the audience. After all, Elizabeth's predicament is difficult to sympathize with and all too easily solved. Tired of her cushy city life, she has the luxury of picking up and traveling to beautiful foreign lands where she indulges in local cuisines and is romanced by a sexy Brazilian (Javier Bardem). Maybe she doesn't have it so bad, after all.

There are also some parts of the trailer that are just too schmaltzy. James Franco, who plays Liz's first post-divorce rebound, folding her "delicates" in a laundromat and presenting them to her by saying, "Your underwear, my queen," was nauseating. Other aspects are seemingly stereotypical: Elizabeth touching the nose of an elephant in India, riding her bike over a rattling bridge and gaining weight because she eats -- gasp! -- some spaghetti and pizza.

But even though my initial inclination was to dismiss the trailer for its triteness, I’m still intrigued by the film. And I think that’s because of its inspirational tone -- we're watching someone take a hard look at her life and do something about it despite luxe circumstances that could easily have had her doing nothing.

Roberts – whose character comes across as emotional and impassioned in the trailer – also seems to take this mission seriously. Her performance looks strong enough that we'll be able to ignore some of the film's more contrived moments. After her recent cameo in "Valentine's Day," it's nice to see her back in the type of leading romantic role she inhabits so well. And it's encouraging to see a popular book translated so well on the big screen.

-- Amy Kaufman

Photo: Javier Bardem and Julia Roberts star in "Eat, Pray, Love." Credit: Sony Pictures.

The feeling around Hollywood lately is that Sandra Bullock has in some ways walked off with Julia Roberts’ career. The actress opted for “The Proposal” after Roberts passed and starred in “The Blind Side,” which had been first offered to Roberts back when the film was at Fox.

Roberts has instead decided to focus on her family, stepping back in to the limelight mainly to play supporting parts in movies like “Charlie Wilson’s War” and ensemble roles like the one she has in the upcoming Garry Marshall flick “Valentine’s Day”  (which, as those ubiquitous TV ads have shown, has Roberts playing a soldier who flirts outrageously with Bradley Cooper).

"Duplicity” last year marked a comeback of sorts, but while the complex thriller impressed the critics, regular Joes appear to have found the tale of two corporate spies a little remote.

Now comes word that Roberts is taking on another lead role, with “Charlie Wilson’s War” buddy Tom Hanks writing and directing a movie for the two of them about a man re-inventing his life at middle age. The man endures a midlife crisis and joins a kids' Vespa gang; Roberts plays an instructor at a school that Hanks' character enrolls in. (Clearly the midlife-crisis theme is resonant for Hanks – he also owns the rights to the book “How Starbucks Changed My Life,” a memoir about a man who goes to work at Starbucks at age 63 after he was diagnosed with a brain tumor.)

Fans (this writer included) tend to feel like it’s been a long time since they've gotten their fix of the big wide smile and the whole smiling-through-tears moment that seems to come in every commercial movie she does, from “Pretty Woman” to “Notting Hill.”

Of course, the more limited work schedule is not just a family thing for Roberts. She’s now choosing her films on a lot more than their commercial appeal, taking on ambitious projects that offer her the chance to play meatier roles.

In August, she’ll be seen doing just that when “Eat, Pray, Love,” the adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert’s bestselling memoir about a woman who travels the globe after her divorce, hits the screen. That movie has general appeal and should stoke fan interest (especially the pairing of Roberts and Javier Bardem). But directed by “Nip/Tuck” creator Ryan Murphy, it also appears to be the kind of film that works in Roberts' interest in more prestige fare.

Last spring, Roberts told this paper that she can’t imagine herself recycling the romantic rescue tropes that endeared her to audiences in the '90s. “I can’t play those parts anymore,” she said. “It just doesn’t work for me at 41, with three kids and happily married.”

But as the skyrocketing careers of Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep have demonstrated recently, in contemporary you can also tell real stories about women over 40 that have genuine broad appeal. You can be, in other words, the new Julia Roberts.

-- Rachel Abramowitz

Photo: Julia Roberts. Credit: Evan Agostini/AP