Dull Mountain

Rating: 5/10 (18 February 2005)

Romance tales are not my cup of tea, but sometimes we do what we have to and go see them anyway. My wife had read the novel and wanted to see the film, so I went along for the Civil War scenes.
I am a Civil War buff. I have tromped around on battlefields, visited Lincoln sites and toured museums. I've read most of the best of what is out there to be read on the subject, and I have to say, Anothnoy Minghella admirably captured the battle scenes depicting the slaughter in the "crater" portion of the battle of Cold Harbor. He also displayed a deft touch with the more subtle concept that by 1864, the Confederate army were becoming increasingly disenchanted at the idea that they could win the war.Consequently, many did simply head for home, hoping that there was still a home to get to when they got there. Those are the two things Minghella did very well. That's where he earned most of the five points on the IMDb scale that I gave this film.
Beyond that, this movie seemed to take days to tell a story that can be summed up in three sentences. Inman (Jude Law) is fed up with the war and wants to go hone and consummate his love for Ada Monroe (Nicole Kidman). On the way he encounters hardships, acts of courage, acts of cowardice and the like while Ada battles with the help of some unlikely allies to keep from dying herself. Finally Inman gets home, makes to love Ada, and then he dies.
Jude Law turned in a credible performance as the soldiers' soldier, Inman. Renee Zellweger was entertaining as Ada's friend and companion (lover?) Ruby Thewes. Phillip Seymour Hoffman turned in a nice performance as the cad, Rev. Veasey. Otherwise the performances were certainly not horrible; the cast was solid and portrayed the broad brush characters they were given to portray with reliable predictability. As for Nicole Kidman, I never for a moment believed that she was on the brink of starvation after her father (portrayed with a kind of bemused indifference by Donald Suterland) died. People on the brink of starvation are not perfectly groomed with meticulously combed hair, fluorescent white teeth and not a callous on her hands. I suppose it's not her fault that that the director and make-up people were unable to suppress her natural beauty, but she never looked to be suffering from anything more than mild discomfort. As is often the case with "Hollywood" productions, the people are just a little too pretty to be believed.
The whole purpose of the movie seemed to be to get to the torrid love scene between Inman and Ada, followed hard by his death. I hope the journey was worth it for Inman; it certainly wasn't for me.