Simply put...Not very good.

Rating: Null/10 (27 December 2003)

Cold Mountain. Miramax's 83 million dollar bet. Harvey Weinstein put alot on the line for the gorgeous epic and ultimately the film just does not deliver. Now i am not saying this to stand against the waves or act differently simply to be noticed. I am being truly honest when I say that the movie is not very good. The scenery is beautiful and the actors look the part , however i could not excuse the ridiculous antics and look of Charlie Hunnam's character. Minghella shows that he has a direct idea in his intentions for the film however he clearly was lost character wise and ultimately his lack of character direction destroys the film. The film follows the implied love connection between a one emotioned Jude Law and an over accented Nicole Kidman. They both give awful performances and they simply show that even the most proven actors can do a bad job with meaningful material. Anyway the film follows Inman (Jude Law) as he makes his journey from the battlefields of the civil war, back to the love of his life, Kidman. Well the "love connection" shared between the two is flacid and poorly dealt with. It amazes me that two actors of such high caliber can do such a poor job despite the scenery that is meant to support their actions. The most valid reasoning behind my hate for Jude Law's performance is the fact that his character does not change or develop anywhere throughout the film. One would think that after the horrors of war, the triumph over such negative events would change a man for the better. However Jude Law maintains the same solemn look throughout the entire film. Its a pathetic and meaningless performance which could have been done better had the original choice of Tom Cruise landed the role. If you doubt me see The Last Samurai and your respect for Tom Cruise will return, he shows his sense of development and intelligence throughout that picture. The most demeaning quality of this film is its time. Now i realize that the runtime is acceptable and not neccesarily unbearable, however how can you watch a movie that is so utterly boring? By the end of the film i had forgotten most of the other supporting characters, with the exception of Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Lucas Black, and Natalie Portman. The film is slow and boring ultimately. However slow is not always bad, The Last Samurai was long and slow but I loved it because it held the viewers interest. Hoffman is hilarious and Portam is moving and perhaps the reason i liked them so much is because they were bairly in the dam thing. Now i can be disagreed with by thousands but i maintain, the film sucks and i was very dissapointed, it is 2003's Gangs of New York, it garners respect for no dam reason. 6/10.