It didn't leave me cold

Rating: Null/10 (21 January 2004)

Rating: **** (out of *****)
Inman (Jude Law) goes off to battle in the American Civil War, leaving his newly found love, Ada (Nicole Kidman) behind in the small community of Cold Mountain, North Carolina. During the severity of battle, in 1864, Inman becomes a deserter and sets out to return to Cold Mountain. The story (based on the novel by Charles Frazier) follows his dangerous journey home as him and other deserters are tracked by cavalry led by Teague (Ray Winstone). It also follows Ada as she takes care of the farm that belonged to her late father (Donald Sutherland). She finds aid and friendship in the form of the spirited Ruby (Renée Zellweger).
As I watched the unclear opening moments of this road epic/romance, I remember thinking that Cold Mountain was going to be a "waste of time" as well as "obvious Oscar bait with two over-hyped actors as the romantic leads". Well, it's nice to be proved completely wrong in one respect, as the film makes a marvellous recovery to provide over two hours of worthwhile, if frustratingly inconsistent entertainment.
These days, there's always at least one Miramax film that will be heavily promoted during awards season, and Cold Mountain is one of them. Just look at the talent involved. Anthony Minghella (The English Patient, The Talented Mr. Ripley) has adapted and directed this. Also, the film's supporting cast contains impressive actors such as Ray Winstone, Donald Sutherland, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Natalie Portman. Even The White Stripes' Jack White gets a good performance coaxed out of him.
Then there's the film's soundtrack, which, as well as being a little melodramatic, had some elements that could have been lifted from O Brother, Where Art Thou?. Cold Mountain, however, isn't as funny, compelling or memorable as the Coen brothers picture. Yet it does have the significant advantage of more realistic characters. And the film needs that advantage.
I'm not a fan of either Nicole Kidman or Jude Law, but they both hold their own here, and they have enough chemistry for a good romance (if not a great one). Both Kidman and Renée Zellweger better their rather overrated performances in The Hours & Chicago, respectively, by some distance, especially Zellweger. Alas, all three leads run into a little trouble with the accents. Zellweger's is sometimes grating, and even Kidman & Law struggle in that department near the beginning.
Like another certain Oscar contender, The Last Samurai, Cold Mountain is hampered by its inconsistency and length (although the Cruise film got away with it a little better). This is probably the result of some pretentiousness on the director's part. But, just like The Last Samurai, I recommend this.