Good view of Cold Mountain!

Rating: 8/10 (1 February 2004)

Almost every freeze frame of the epic `Cold Mountain' is encompassed with ravishing cinematography, an authentic art direction, and a heart-rending musical score. Those are definitely the hot properties of `Cold Mountain'. Jude Law stars as Inman, a Civil War soldier who is on an enduring journey to Cold Mountain to reunite with his love- Ada Monroe. Ada is played by newcomer Nicole Kidman. Just a little kidman kidding! Part of `Cold Mountain' revolves around the series of adventures that Inman is confronted with on his journey, which very much resembles `Homer's Odyssey'. The other side of the mountain focuses on Ada's desperation for her Inman to return, and the friendship she develops with the tough grassroots southern farmgirl Ruby- here played with dynamism by Renee Zellweger. Director Anthony Minghella continues to prove that he is mountains above many other directors as far as adapting epic literary works into major motion pictures. However, I must give the cold shoulder to the screenplay of `Cold Mountain. It was a bit falsifying and way too melodramatic. Nevertheless, `Cold Mountain' is high enough with positive attributes for you to climb on to. **** Good