Movie recommendation

This weekend we watched The Painted Veil, based on the book of the same name by W. Somerset Maugham. I'd say that about 90% of the time, I think about movies very little after I see them (and I am a pretty selective movie viewer). Frankly, a lot of movies don't have enough substance to merit much mulling-over afterward -- a little shoot-'em-up, a few laughs, and then back to your regularly scheduled day. About 5-10% of the time, though, I find myself unable to move on from the movie when it's over, which is usually a good thing. This was one of the latter. Before I go on to the high points, I will give a couple of caveats: first, there were parts that I found emotionally very tough to watch; second, although there is very little foul language and fairly minimal sensuality, there are two scenes where you will see bare male buttocks.

Without going into a lot of detail, I spent the first 30-45 minutes of the movie thinking that both of the main characters were irredeemably flawed, unsympathetic, and frankly a little boring. I was beginning to wonder if this movie deserved the critical acclaim it received, but patience paid off. By the end, I was blinking away tears and thinking about the nobility of the human character and what a mysterious thing love is. For those who might have seen it, or choose to watch it, there is a scene that particularly struck me; it's where the married couple are talking one evening about their courtship and honeymoon and about reality vs. expectations. I thought the dialogue there was brilliant and the scene was played to perfection by Naomi Watts and Edward Norton.

Jared liked the movie, too, although generally speaking he thinks I get a little over-invested in these things. For every time I cringed or said, "Oh, this is so sad," he responded with "Hey, you're the one who chose this movie." I do wish at times that I could enjoy things (movies, books, even reality TV) with a bit more detachment. That being said, this movie is one I'd highly recommend on an evening when you're looking for something more meaty than another romantic comedy.