A good movie - not a great movie

Rating: 8/10 (30 December 2003)

I find it a little ironic that Cold Mountain took an English Director (Anthony Minghella), a British Actor (Jude Law), an Australian Actress (Nicole Kidman) and a supporting cast that primarily showcased a Canadian (Donald Sutherland) and an Irishman (Brendan Gleeson), to bring to the screen the best movie set during the American Civil War since 1989's Glory. Don't get me wrong, Renee Zellweger and Phillip Seymour Hoffman have probably the two most memorable roles within the movie's 155-minute frame, but it's the southerly-accent-challenged that get the most screen time.

Cold Mountain is directed by Minghella (who has worked with Law and Hoffman before in The Talented Mr. Ripley), who worked from a script he adapted from the best selling novel by Charles Frazier. The story surrounds a young woman named Ada Monrow (Kidman) who falls in love with the town handyman Inman (Law) right before the breakout of the American Civil War. After a horrific battle with the Americans, Inman is injured and decides to dessert the army to travel back to his true love. Back at the ranch (literally), Ada is finding the times hard. Her father has died and Ada is unable to maintain the farm and garden. Enter one Ruby Thewes (Zellweger) who hears of Ada's plight and attempts to show her how to cultivate the land and groom the animals in exchange for free room and board and the eating at the same table as the owner.
Time goes on and the movie weaves between the lives of the two central characters. Inman continues his odyssey back to Cold Mountain, evading those that hunt deserters and running into an eclectic bunch of characters that include a sexual promiscuous priest (Hoffman), a woman and a child left lonely by the war (Natalie Portman) and a hillbilly type character (Giovanni Ribisi) that lures Inman into his self-indulgent web.
In contrast, Ada and Ruby continue to work the land and Ada soon becomes capable of sustaining the property on her own. We watch as they build fences together, grow crops and hunt for food. They become friends and no sooner does Ruby confide in Ada of her abusive father, Stobrod (Gleeson) than he shows up caught in food trap on their property. Stobrod and his daughter begin to rekindle their loving relationship of old
But where would a movie be without a villain, and Cold Mountain has a few in a posse of men that are out to get back land once theirs and to rid themselves of undesirable deserters within their midst. When the posse crosses paths with Stobrod and his band, Stobrod is killed and when Inman finally returns to the warm embrace of Ada, a gunfight ensues with nary a man standing its conclusion.
Cold Mountain is one of those films that does everything an Oscar contender should. It takes a bunch of good-looking, previously nominated stars puts them in a big budget war/drama/romance film with a love story that is multi-generational. Minghella does his best with a multi-layered novel and brings to the screen characters that are both believable and enjoyable. But it is the relationship between Ada and Inman, or the lack of it, which is at the core of Cold Mountain's problems. These two characters share but a kiss and rarely have any scenes together, so it is not very credible that they would pine for each other as they do throughout the film. This suspension of belief alienates the audience from connecting with the two leads. Everyone involved with the film is well cast (even and including Jena Malone as the Ferry Girl), but it is Renee Zellweger (who was a colored woman in the novel) stands head above the rest in her portrayal as the rough around the edges Rudy.
I heard one critic say that `Cold Mountain is a good film, not a great film', and I can't think of a better way to describe it. The battle sequences you will admire in the trailer play a small part in the overall production so be prepared more for a dramatic romance rather than the fight for ones true love. That said, Cold Mountain should do quite well come Oscar nomination time. Kidman and Zellweger are Academy favorites and Minghella has won before with The English Patient. In a year where the best films have all been about dark and dreary subject matters (21 Grams, Mystic River), Cold Mountain may stand above them all in late February with a bunch of non-anatomically correct statues in its hand.