smug self-righteous Hollywood cliche

Rating: Null/10 (5 February 2004)

Cold Mountain - a collection of every sorry, hackneyed Hollywood cliche about southern whites: racists, rapists, incest ridden, murderous, traitorous, vengeful, dim witted, hypocritical, backward, etc.

Of course, the hero of the film is someone who proclaims, "I'm not fightin' for a cause I don't believe in." Therein is the official doctrine for any modern day southern male anxious to win a free pass to proper society and acceptance of modern, enlightened, and shall we say, cool, people.

Notice no critic took the movie to task for having no African-Americans anywhere to be seen, except for the young innocent slave girl about to be murdered by a deranged Christian minister. And she wasn't given a word of dialogue.
And where were the Black Union troops who fought so valiantly at the battle of the Crater? Digitally erased from history.
And if the Southern deserter were changed to a Northern deserter making his way back to a cold mountain in the Adirondacks or the Berkshires, and no other story point or scene were changed, would the critics have thought it was such a wonderful and precious film? The question answers itself.