A clash between cultures and an unsuspecting romance set the tone in John Curran’s “The Painted Veil.”

Set in the roaring 1920s, the film is an adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham’s classic novel. It tells the story of Kitty Fane (Naomi Watts), a vicarious, spoiled, upper-middle class socialite who’s stuck in a quarter-life crisis; familial pressures mount and Kitty must leave the nest with a husband in hand.

In comes Walter Fane (Edward Norton), a drearily boring bacteriologist, who professes his love to Kitty after a soiree.

They move to Shanghai, China, where Walter has a practice and the fairytale comes to a shattering halt.

The stark contrast in their personalities ignites Kitty’s desire to find romance elsewhere; and so begins a raunchy affair with businessman Charlie Townsend (Liev Schreiber).

Cognizant of his wife’s infidelity, Walter makes a defiant move taking Kitty along with him to Mei-tan-fu, a rural Chinese town plagued by cholera.

When they complete their arduous journey Walter and Kitty are confronted by the villagers; most of who are staunch nationalists weary of any foreign intervention.

“The Painted Veil” sails at a logical pace, giving way to the gamut of events that unfold.

The first three-quarters of the movie fail, however, to captivate the viewer’s attention.

A crucial element is lacking.

Rather, it’s a formulaic tale of an affluent yet bored housewife who’s vulnerable to the temptation of scandal.

The last quarter of the film increases in substance when Kitty volunteers at the local orphanage and becomes a spectacle for the parent-less children.

As she “finds herself” she also gravitates closer to Walter and a genuine love develops between the two.

Despite this added element it fails to provide a quality that’s compelling to the viewer.

Norton’s ability as an adaptable actor makes his performance as a banal bacteriologist believable. Watts couldn’t have done a better job playing the poor-little rich girl. While both can pat themselves on their backs for a job well done in their individual roles, they fail to create a genuine connectedness between each other.

The breathtaking cinematography provided pleasing eye candy and a general distraction to the occasional dull pace of the film.

3*/5*






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