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Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes
Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: Exquisitely filmed and finely acted. Read more
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: A thoughtful and beautifully mounted story for grown-ups, The Painted Veil brings the quiet pleasures of a fine novel, showing us that the world's complicated geography is no match for the terrain of the human heart. Read more
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: The acting is quite splendid, especially in the vicinity of the quite splendid Watts. Read more
David Germain, Associated Press: A pet project of Watts and Norton for years, the two actors clearly have great affinity for the story and capture authentic chemistry of young marrieds at odds, who develop respect -- if not necessarily love -- for each other. Read more
Rex Reed, New York Observer: The Painted Veil tells a mesmerizing story while honoring all of the classic traditions of superior filmmaking -- a magnificent accomplishment that will haunt you long after it ends. Read more
Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader: Norton and Schreiber seem too American to be English colonials, but Watts navigates a challenging transformation (in a role first played by Greta Garbo in 1934), and there are sturdy performances by Anthony Wong, Toby Jones, and Diana Rigg. Read more
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: In The Painted Veil, terrific actors give glum performances. Read more
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: The Painted Veil does what a romantic drama needs to do. It testifies to love as the great educator. Read more
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: It's a grim, demanding movie, but the acting is marvelous and the scenery breathtaking. If you're looking for a film to match the post-holiday blues, here it is. And it's very good. Read more
Scott Tobias, AV Club: Feels like it's going through the motions, applying period gloss to a story that needs to be more tactile. Read more
Richard Nilsen, Arizona Republic: All this comes from a novel by Somerset Maugham, although the movie leaves out most of the complexities of the book to focus on the single-minded venom of the marriage. Read more
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Even amid an atmosphere of human rot, it's too elegant for its own good, a pleasing but pale Merchant-Ivory exercise that reverently strives for a kind of simple redemptive decency that Maugham found less triumphant than this movie does. Read more
Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times: It's impeccable, but leaves you cold. Read more
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: Its strength lies in its patience -- and its slow, melting sorrow that hints at atonement. Read more
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Read more
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: The filmmakers are mindful of the challenges inherent in filming Maugham's novel. But The Painted Veil never fully finesses the novel's 1920s attitudes toward its ethnic others. Read more
Tom Long, Detroit News: The film manages to be a lush period piece, a love story, an examination of culture clash and a slow revelation of character emerging from stunted emotion. Read more
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: 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 more
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: This version has that element the previous films lacked: a true understanding of Maugham's belief that true love and purpose are inseparable. Read more
Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly: The Painted Veil lifts Maugham's story clear of its prissy, attenuated spirituality, and into genuine passion. Read more
John Anderson, Newsday: It's really the Norton-Watts show, and they make The Painted Veil resonate with love and regret. Read more
David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: The movie makes for a good old-fashioned wide-screen wallow. Read more
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Naomi Watts is far too good for most of her roles, sitting in an ape's paw or watching spectral videotapes. The Painted Veil is a welcome exception. Read more
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: The Painted Veil may begin too slowly, but it also ends too soon. Read more
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Read more
James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The movie achieves a rare balance for an historical fiction: making use of the backdrop without allowing it to overwhelm the characters and their story. Read more
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: Curran, his actors and screenwriter Ron Nyswaner have made an old-fashioned melodramatic epic that, as steeped as it is in the language and tradition of old movies, is never less than thrummingly alive. Read more
Bill Zwecker, Chicago Sun-Times: [Director] Curran has crafted a film that accomplishes so much. It not only draws us into this personal drama between his two principal actors, but also sets it all against a vibrant background of an ancient civilization struggling to become modern. Read more
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: The Painted Veil never really transcends a predictable, historical model of sacrifice and personal growth, and there's not enough of the latter. Read more
Susan Walker, Toronto Star: The Painted Veil recalls an earlier era of film direction, when movies moved rather than manipulated and craft superseded special effects. Read more
Time Out: The production values are characteristically sumptuous, William Daniels' photography is lustrous, and Boleslawski directs with suitable flair. Read more
Todd McCarthy, Variety: Intelligent scripting, solid thesping and eye-catching location shooting aren't enough to make a compelling modern film of The Painted Veil Read more
Ella Taylor, Village Voice: The Painted Veil lifts Maugham's story clear of its prissy, attenuated spirituality, and into genuine passion. Read more