Blech. Read the book instead.

Rating: 3/10 (23 January 2005)

To be fair, I rarely like a movie once I've read the book, and this is especially so with a book I loved as much as Cold Mountain. So those of you who haven't read it should take my comments with a grain of salt.
One of the best things about the novel was the lack of schmaltz. There, the relationship between Ada and Inman was secondary to Inman's travels and Ada's coming into her own -- yet always there was the potential for love. Focusing on the character development -- and hinting at this potential -- made sense because Inman and Ada really didn't know each other before their separation, yet through the years each developed in a way that could only add to their compatibility. I looked forward to their reunion knowing that it had become logical for them to be together. That's romantic. In the movie, however, it was presented as a given that they were each other's "aine true love" -- yet Minghella never did the heavy lifting of creating scenes that showed them actually getting to know each other -- just blushing and making googly eyes. So really all we knew is that they found each other hot. Instead of Inman clinging to the notion of Ada as "home," and Ada finally arriving at the mature conclusion that she wanted to be with Inman, we saw a lot of pining after each other to the swelling of syrupy music. Please! If you want to see a true romance, watch Minghella's MUCH superior "Truly Madly Deeply."