The Painted Veil (2006) Critic Reviews

Metascore®:

70 =
Based upon 13 Critic Reviews
See all The Painted Veil (2006) reviews at
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Los Angeles Times | Carina ChocanoAdd Critic to Favorites

The Painted Veil has all the elements in place to be a great epic, but it fails to connect, to paraphrase Maugham's contemporary E.M. Forster, the prose with the passion. It's impeccable, but leaves you cold.Read the full review

USA Today | Claudia PuigAdd Critic to Favorites

The Painted Veil is a welcome addition to the slate of holiday movies, particularly for those drawn to intriguing tales of multi-dimensional characters in exotic settings.Read the full review

ReelViews | James BerardinelliAdd Critic to Favorites

A lot takes place during The Painted Veil's two-hour running length, but most of what happens occurs within the hearts and minds of the leads.Read the full review

Wall Street Journal | Joe MorgensternAdd Critic to Favorites

Terrific actors give glum performances.Read the full review

The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk HoneycuttAdd Critic to Favorites

The film is unusual in that it is a co-production with the Chinese. Whatever difficulties this imposed on the Western filmmakers, the reward is a period film that feel authentic to its time and place.Read the full review

Entertainment Weekly | Lisa SchwarzbaumAdd Critic to Favorites

The always surprising Watts creates a woman at once contemporary and retro. And Norton, as a producer as well as star, concedes enough space for Schreiber and the effortlessly fascinating Jones to earn their own spotlights.Read the full review

The New York Times | Manohla DargisAdd Critic to Favorites

Whether through craft or constitution, Mr. Norton invests Walter with a petty cruelty that makes his character’s emotional thaw and Kitty’s predicament all the more poignant.Read the full review

San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalleAdd Critic to Favorites

The year's best romantic drama.Read the full review

Rolling Stone | Peter TraversAdd Critic to Favorites

The Painted Veil has the power and intimacy of a timeless love story. By all means, let it sweep you away.Read the full review

The Onion (A.V. Club) | Scott TobiasAdd Critic to Favorites

While the film remains intelligent and transporting, a gorgeous travelogue into another time and place, it nonetheless feels like it's going through the motions, applying period gloss to a story that needs to be more tactile.Read the full review

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