As a guilt-ridden Catholic, I often have been intrigued by other religions, but never really became familiar with their ways because I had enough trouble trying to live by Catholicism.

So what made the visually appealing Seven Years in Tibet succeed for me, for a while anyway, is how the story delves into the lives of devout Buddhists, especially of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The story is the adaptation of Heinrich Harrer’s 1953 Tibetan memoir. At the start of the story, Harrer (Brad Pitt) is a famous but self-centered Austrian mountain climber during the reign of Hitler. He abandons his pregnant wife to accompany a German expedition to climb Nanga Parbat, one of the highest peaks in the Himalayas.

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During the journey and at the start of World War II, Harrer and the rest of the expedition become British prisoners of war. With the aid of his adversary, Peter Aufschnaiter (David Thewlis), Harrer flees the prison camp, and the two make their way to the holy city of Lhasa.

While in Lhasa, Harrer becomes a confidant of the young Dalai Lama, and we get a sense of the importance of peace and tranquillity to Buddhism. Seeing the cultural aspects and the ways of this ancient religion is where I found the movie most enjoyable.

But then Pitt grows on you . . . like a wart. I surely will be offending a lot of people, but I felt he was miscast and not up to the task of such a role. Much of the movie focused on Harrer’s transformation from his conceited ways to his becoming passive, peaceful and understanding. And Pitt did not convince me.

Director Jean-Jacques Annaud does what he can with a weak script, and cinematographer Robert Fraisse almost saves the movie. But too many topics are all shoved into 140 minutes that should have been spent elaborating on the relationship between the Dalai Lama and Harrer.