Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed an interesting phenomenon about Brad Pitt?

It seems every time I mention his name to a woman, she says something along the lines of “oh-woh-oh-oh Brad.” Her eyes then will glaze over and she’ll get this kind of dreamy look on her face.

She’ll snap out of this love-trance eventually (maybe in a few seconds, maybe in a few hours), looking satisfied and immediately asking for a cigarette. Even if she doesn’t smoke.

Well, get the smokes ready, ’cause Brad is back in the movie “Seven Years in Tibet.”

And I’m going to answer this question right now, because almost every woman I’ve talked to since seeing this movie has asked it: No, Brad Pitt does not have a nude scene. Sorry.

Pitt is Heinrich Harrer, a famous Austrian mountaineer. To put it bluntly, Harrer is a glory and fame- seeking self-centered jerk.

In the fall of 1939, he leaves his pregnant wife to go climb one of the Himalayas highest peaks.

The whole mountain climbing party is captured and held in a POW camp as World War II breaks out. Harrer attempts several escapes and finally succeeds after years in the camp.

What follows is a harrowing and death-defying journey across the Himalayas to the mysterious Tibetan city of Lhasa.

This first half of the movie, with its breathtaking mountain vistas, is at times, visually stunning. Unfortunately, by this point, the movie is starting to feel like “Seven Years in an Uncomfortable Seat in a Movie Theater.”

The solemn tone of the film changes drastically when Harrer meets the young Dalai Lama, played wonderfully by the scene-stealing Jamayang Jamtsho Wangchuck.

As the spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama has led a sheltered life and is very curious about the Western world.

He fires question after question at Harrer: “Where is Paris?” “Who is Jack the Ripper?” “What’s an elevator?”

Harrer becomes a teacher and friend to the Dalai Lama, and it is the scenes between Pitt, and Wangchuck that are the movies best.

It is through his contact with the religious figure Harrer has his emotional awakening, realizing he’s been a glory and fame-seeking self-centered jerk.

The final part of the film deals with the Chinese takeover of Tibet. Because of their Buddhist beliefs, the Tibetans find it difficult to use violence in the fight for their freedom.

I really wanted to see more of this struggle — more about the Buddhist faith. The struggles Harrer had balancing his Western views with Tibet’s Buddhist views were among the most interesting and funny in the movie.

For example, Harrer sets out to build a movie theater for the Dalai Lama. There is only one problem — the Buddhists will not harm any worms while digging because they may be the reincarnated soul of someone’s mother.

Overall, the first part of the movie could have been condensed a lot, giving more time to develop the more interesting and entertaining second half.

I know Harrer’s journey in “Seven Years in Tibet” is very important to who he becomes, but he doesn’t really change until after meeting the Dalai Lama, almost an hour and twenty minutes into the movie. I wish we’d gotten there faster.

3 stars out of five.

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Mike Milik is a senior in advertising from West Des Moines.