Not all that

Rating: 7/10 (30 June 2004)

A kind of poor man's "Gone With the Wind", "Cold Mountain" tells of a man (Law) who falls in like with a woman (Kidman) but has to go off to fight for the CSA during the American Civil War. After the battle of Petersburg in late 1864, he deserts and spends the bulk of the 2.5 hour film humping it back home to his kinda-sorta beloved all the while bumping into all manner of peculiar hillbilly characters while Kidman does a sort of Scarlett O'Hara thing trying to maintain a stiff upper lip in the face of cold and deprivation and never having had to do labor before. "Cold Mountain" is a worthy albeit Hollywoodized star power and hype film about star crossed would-be lover hillbillies who struggle with the tribulations of the time. The film suffers from a thin plot with a story which is filled with side characters who contribute little to the plot and a denouement which is predictable and too little too late. Don't expect to be seeing much of bit parters Hoffman, Ribisi, Portman, or Sutherland in this long wannabe epic which fared well with critics and public alike and garnered a respectable brace of awards. (B)