"Silk" all comes unraveled

It takes less time to read Alessandro Baricco's slender 1996 novel, "Silk," than it does to watch the vapid movie version. Faithful to the book but much less stylish, it succeeds only in demonstrating that Michael Pitt can cause anyone's eyelids to droop when he's handed the leading role.

Best-known for playing Kurt Cobain in Gus Van Sant's "Last Days," Pitt barely seems conscious through much of "Silk." Miscast as a European silkworm merchant who travels to Japan, he fails to generate the chemistry needed to awaken the character's wife (Keira Knightley) or a Japanese concubine (Sei Ashina).

Director François Girard ("32 Short Films About Glenn Gould") gives the picture a lush 19th-century look, and he's lucky to have the wide-awake Alfred Molina on-board as Pitt's boss. But his is a supporting role, and it fails to connect with the story's romantic plot twist.