Cold Mountain Leaves You Cold

Rating: 4/10 (5 January 2004)

With an acclaimed director, stellar cast, and stunning locations, Cold Mountain had the makings of a masterpiece. Unfortunately significant screenplay
problems, a lack of interesting dialogue, and simplistic filming kill the film.
The opening sequence of jumping forward and backward in the story's time- line was fine but went no where. The interesting "play" on practically being mute by choice for Law's character looked like a good concept but what should have been a critical symbol and foreshadowing is used miserably with litte
impact / connection to the characters that do lose their voices (literally or metaphorically) later in the film.
The screenplay weaknesses do not stop there. Frankly, the dialogue was
weak. Only one of the characters had strong dialog, and compelling speeches. With the exception of a well-acted character by Renee Zelleweger, the dialogue was simply not worth listening to.
The Cinematography and editing was effective enough, and the costume/ design, while not worthy of awards, was realistic. In short, the film looked o.k. and was cohesive. But that is it.
Kidman, Law, and an impressive supporting cast did well [with what they were given] but it was obviously that the entire cast [but Zelleweger] was starving for lines. What a waste of talent.
In summation. The characters were empty, the shots standard, and everything else overwhelmingly unimaginative. Characters got shot, and the audience
didn't care.
The best thing about Cold Mountain was clearly Renee Zelleweger's work.