Clint Eastwood won't be losing much sleep over this one.

Rating: Null/10 (1 January 2004)

There was a point, about a third of the way through Cold Mountain, when I thought how much I was enjoying it. It looked great, the acting was fine and there were some genuinely interesting characters and quirky moments. I was even beginning to think that maybe it was going to be worth adding to the list of great movies made by foreigners about America - Milos Forman with Taking Off and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, John Schlessinger with Midnight Cowboy, John Boorman with Point Blank, Peter Yates with Bullitt and, of course, Sergio Leone. However, almost as soon as the thought was formed, my enthusiasm began to evaporate. Jude Law just isn't strong enough to make you care whether he gets back home or not, Nicole Kidman fails to convince as a woman surviving in those cruel times and, most damning of all, the final showdowns with the baddies are oddly weedy. Cold Mountain, like all of Minghella's films, is also grotesquely overlong. It would be improved greatly by losing at least half an hour. All in all, I don't think Clint Eastwood will be losing much sleep over this one.