Throughout the ages, Cupid, or at least the notion of his ability to strike unexpected love, has come in many forms. There's the original Roman mythology view as well as that of the chubby cherub often seen in cartoons and Valentine's Day materials and advertisements.
That said, I don't think I've ever seen the winged love inducer represented by Vibrio cholerae. That's the microscopic pest better known by the truncated name cholera. Certainly nothing says "let's fall in love" like an infectious disease of the small intestine with all of its wonderful side effects.
However, that nasty bacterium ends up serving that very role in "The Painted Veil," a moderately successful look at life, love and death in early 20th century China. In this adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's 1925 novel of the same name, Naomi Watts plays Kitty Fane, an English socialite who marries for all the wrong reasons, has an affair, and is thereafter punished by being whisked away to a remote and cholera-infested Chinese village by her angry bacteriologist husband (Edward Norton).
It's hard to imagine -- at least conceptually -- new love springing forth from such a setting and scenario, but that's exactly what occurs as Watts' character transforms from spoiled opportunist to concerned and caring wife. Of course, it takes getting her hands dirty to jumpstart that metamorphosis, yet another plot point that neither screenwriter Ron Nyswaner nor director John Curran manage to imbue with any sort of surprise or novelty.
The filmmakers also use the somewhat tiresome storytelling technique (which is traditionally better suited for novels than movies) of jumping back and forth through time to establish their tale. Here, we start with the view of the couple having just been dropped off somewhere in the middle of nowhere China, awaiting porters. Neither looks happy, and we don't know if that's due to the heat or revelations that are to come later.
We then hop back to when they met, married and consummated their union (all presented in a hurried, episodic and fractured fashion that doesn't do the film any good for engaging the viewer), followed by the subsequent affair (with Liev Schreiber) and then ultimatum from the cuckold.
Either he'll go public with her indiscretion (thus returning her to potential spinster-dom since Schreiber's character won't divorce his wife) or she'll have to accompany him to his latest exploratory outpost. Maybe it's because he's really the nerdy scientist type who couldn't otherwise get a date, but it seems unlikely he'd drag along the unfaithful spouse.
Granted, it establishes his character as a do-gooder meanie, but her presence and constant reminder of her fling would only serve as his own punishment. Of course, without that decision, the story as we have it would end, and thus the predictable changes of heart could never occur, etc.
Watts and Norton are generally okay in their roles, she being the woman ahead of her time sort and him playing the stereotypically stoic and determined man of yesteryear (where propriety veils the touchy-feely parts). While both are obviously capable performers, the material shortchanges their ability to fully bring them to life and create compelling and, more importantly, engaging personas. Without that, the rebirth of their love for one another (for her, it's the first time for him) doesn't have the emotional impact it should have had, meaning the ending it's as powerful as it might have been.
Supporting performances from the likes of Diana Rigg, as the stereotypical Mother Superior, and Anthony Wong, as a tough but understanding military man, are good, despite a similar shortage of character depth with which the performers can work. The best, however, comes from Tobey Jones as a British Deputy Commissioner who's settled into a seemingly carefree and somewhat decadent life. Due to the construction of the character and the actor's portrayal of him, Waddington ends up as the most interesting thing the film has to offer.
That even includes when a certain love bug (no, not Herbie) decides to bite and serve as the catalyst for both character and marital rebirth. While that doesn't result in cinematic nausea, it also didn't engage me enough to make me care. Sporting a handsome visual veneer but otherwise feeling flat, "The Painted Veil" doesn't reveal enough to warrant more than a 5.5 out of 10 rating.
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