Could have been better, but I'm not sure how

Rating: Null/10 (10 January 2004)

I saw this today and I was disappointed. I simply did not feel drawn into the story for the first third of it or so, at all. The bloody war footage left me cold, and I never did (even as the movie went on) see any sense in the connection between Nicole Kidman's character and Jude Law's -- there was no real chemistry and no cinematic rhyme or reason to their attachment, in my opinion. That should have been fleshed out more, and perhaps exchanged for all the time spent on that loser of a "preacher" who's thrown in, largely for laughs, on Inman's journey home.
The most solid acting in this movie was from the supporting cast. Renee Zellweger was convincing as Ruby, and her arrival on the scene revitalized the movie for me and probably kept me from walking out. (I think this is, believe it or not, the first movie I've seen her in). Also, the actors portraying the Swanger family turned in good performances, as did Natalie Portman. Nicole Kidman did a good job, as always, although even she occasionally had a hard time hiding her Australian accent behind a Southern one. There were high points, and some good funny moments. Overall, however, I just felt disconnected and disappointed.
****SPOILER WARNING BEYOND THIS POINT******
Perhaps the biggest reason I couldn't get emotionally involved with this film was that, even without having read the book or a single review or summary of the movie beyond the bare-bones "civil war" label, I KNEW that the majority of the characters would be doomed to die by the end. I knew that there was no way the couple could really wind up together; the new Hollywood wouldn't allow that. And I'd seen Jude Law "die" so many times that I suppose I mentally hardened myself against it and just didn't care by the end.