Renee Zellweger "stole the show"?

Rating: 8/10 (5 January 2004)

I just saw this film over the weekend. It is quite good! There is some amazing imagery here, and the opening battle scene was very well done. Very gritty and muddy. To bad there weren't more battle scenes, but this is not that kind of film.
What we have is a loose re-telling of "The Odyssey" set in the Civil War. The long journey to returned to a loved one and overcoming the obstacles to get there are right out of The Odyssey. Even the sirens are in this story. This is a classic formula for good storytelling. The protagonist (played by Jude Law) has a literal journey in this film, but he failed in having his inner journey. The character is rather flat and doesn't change much. It is implied that he is changed, but I just felt Jude Law didn't portray that change well.
Here's where I will demonstrate unpopular opinion...Renee Zellweger. Everyone raves about her performance and how she "stole the show", how great she is, her best performance, bla, bla, bla. I completely disagree. Sure, she stole the show, but it was with a completely campy, over-the-top, almost cartoon performance. The characters in this film were so believable, except for the character of Ruby. They might as well have had Ruby played by Daffy Duck; it would have had the same effect. This movie is steeped in realism, but Renee takes the audience out of that realism and puts them into another movie. The character was a nice contrast to all of the low-key characters, and was necessary for some comic relief, but a better actor should have been used. Phillip Seymour Hoffman's performance is a better example of doing a colorful and comedic performance without being out of place. Rene Zellweger was acting in a completely different movie than everyone else. You think that the director would have noticed and had her tone her performance down a bit. That being said, the rest of the supporting cast is outstanding (unfortunately, the leads are rather flat). Phillip Seymour Hoffman, as I mentioned before, and Natalie Portman are the ones who "stole the show" and Renee Zellweger should be happy she was not in any scenes with either of those actors because they are a completely different caliber of actors than she, and it would be very apparent that she doesn't know what screen acting is. Her style would be better suited for stage performances, because that kind of acting is necessary for that environment.
Gee, I guess I don't much like Renee Zellwegger. I never realized that until now.
All in all, I still think Cold Mountain was an excellent film with some amazing cinematography. The visuals alone are enough to see this film.