The Painted Veil.

"Like [John] Curran's last film, the magnificent We Don't Live Here Anymore, The Painted Veil once again has the subject of marital infidelity at its core," writes Filmbrain. "Curran's leap from directing a claustrophobic domestic drama to a romantic tragedy with an epic scope is impressive, and The Painted Veil is more than just your typical awards-season period film, though it's one you can still take your mom to see."

But about that awards-season appeal. John Horn reports in the Los Angeles Times that the film "is currently generating so little attention that half a dozen people associated with the film are starting to complain. Even one prominent film critic has questioned the handling of the film."

Anne Thompson has more in the Hollywood Reporter: "Debates between the filmmakers and Warners over the final cut of the film - in which China, where the movie was shot, had final say - delayed delivery of the finished print.... At one point, [producer Bob] Yari even offered to buy the film back from the studio."

Related: New York's Logan Hill talks with Edward Norton.

Updated through 12/21.

Earlier: Michael Guillén and, at Slant, Jason Clark.

Update, 12/19: Ella Taylor in the Voice: "The Painted Veil lifts Maugham's story clear of its prissy, attenuated spirituality, and into genuine passion."

Updates, 12/20: A "romance in the grand tradition," writes Michelle Orange at the Reeler.

Manohla Dargis, writing in the New York Times, concentrates on the performances: "When Walter confronts Kitty with her betrayal, he grabs her arm and with bloodcurdling quiet threatens to strangle her if she interrupts him. Again, this isn't Maugham; it's an American actor having his way with a character, beautifully.... [Naomi] Watts gives Mr Norton plenty of room and still manages to have her way with The Painted Veil."

"Lush, romantic melodramas [have] gone out of fashion and out of favor," sighs Salon's Stephanie Zacharek. "Maybe that's why John Curran's resplendent, enveloping The Painted Veil, a movie that would have seemed conventional 30 years ago, is an act of mainstream daring."

Jay A Fernandez profiles screenwriter Ron Nyswaner for the Los Angeles Times.

Nick Pinkerton at indieWIRE: "It's certainly a more optimistic story than Maugham wrote; and why shouldn't we be more optimistic about sex than he, who grew up queer in an era of outright witch hunts? But that's just clouding the issue: this oddly sanitized Painted Veil concludes that - why not? - virtue can trade as sex appeal through a miracle of emotional alchemy. And while most epic romances are necessarily flecked with lies, this one's a whopper."

Update, 12/21: "John Curran and screenwriter Ron Nyswaner remain at a British remove, as if finding it too, too beastly to pry into the whole sordid business," writes Carina Chocano in the Los Angeles Times. "The handiest explanation is that the project really belongs to its star, Edward Norton, who as a producer worked for years to bring it to fruition and may have been reluctant to play the desperate weirdo."

Posted by dwhudson at December 18, 2006 5:44 AM