Ridiculously predictable and BORING

Rating: 2/10 (24 October 2007)

This is the kind of film that women almost universally like, and men generally hate. Jude Law gives a wooden performance as a deserter from the Confederate Army whose one mission is to return to Nicole Kidman, a woman whom he barely knows. Along his merry journey home, he meets a collection of other cowards and deserters, and has many adventures. Historical inaccuracies abound as apparently the entire Confederate Army was trying to desert, and the film lovingly celebrates these acts of cowardice. Kidman herself, whose meager talent has always been grossly overrated, gives another forgettable performance here. The one bright spot is Rene Zellweger, who gives the film some welcome comic relief. She plays a woman who apparently is one of the few people in the South with a Southern accent. Her performance is marred only by one over-the-top antiwar speech, intended to be a dramatic highlight of the film but which turns out to be unintentionally hilarious. Ethan Suplee and Giovanni Ribisi are also good in minor roles, as both apparently are developing their characters for use in MY NAME IS EARL. Except for some interesting battle scenes early on, there is nothing at all in this movie to hold a man's attention. It plods on at such an excruciating pace that Jude Law's death is a welcome signal that the end of the film is near. An hour of the film could easily be cut with no loss of quality.