The Moose Hole - Review of Cold Mountain

Rating: 6/10 (3 January 2004)

What is with Hollywood and the concept of love in the mitts of great disasters? There can be no greater example of this obsession than the highest grossing film of all time, Titanic. Though the Oscar darling can be blamed for the most recent trend, it is not the first to start this. There's the classic Casablanca and many other films set in and around World War II that do the same thing that is happening today in war features. Many films have come out recently and tried to duplicate the same result as Titanic but none have come close. Miramax is hoping they can break that statement with their film set in North Carolina during the Civil War. The Great War that divided this nation from 1861 to 1865 has become a hot subject as of late but few have taken the time to really focus, accurately at least, what this war was truly about. Instead they focus on side issues and stories that were only a small piece of the puzzle that was this time period. Gangs of New York, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio, is a perfect example of this. If the subject matter of Cold Mountain and the historical time period are blended in a way that creates an accurate interesting tale then maybe more and more films will be able to do the same.
The story follows the young Confederate soldier who has deserted his position in the army in order to return home to be with his pre-war sweetheart. Inman is a man of very little words and actions but when he discovers the new missionary's daughter, Ada, he is at even greater loss for words. The two young North Carolina residents seem to take an interest in each other but that development is quickly put in jeopardy as Inman goes to join the other young men of the South to defend their homeland from `Northern aggression'. After he is wounded after the Siege of Petersburg, he deserts the Confederate army and starts a long and tiresome journey back to Cold Mountain. Along the way, he encounters many different characters that both help and hinder his journey home. Back in Cold Mountain, things are no better for Ada for the farm goes into disarray after the death of her father. With help of a drifter named Ruby, she hopes to survive long enough to reunite with Inman once again. The story for Cold Mountain may have been a bestselling plot when it was in book form but up on screen it is nothing short of disappointing. The plot is pretty predictable with several actions leading up to `major' events that could be seen from a mile away. The feature runs into the same problems as Gangs of New York, which opened this same time last year, in that it tries to cram too much into three hours and loses its focus not too far from the end.
Though the cast seems to be an impressive group of Oscar favorites, few of them really show off why they should be labeled as such in this film. The biggest problem has to be Nicole Kidman's character, Ada. In the beginning of the film, it seems as though her character should be a little younger then Kidman herself makes her out to be. How old is Kidman? Forty years old? Whatever age she is, the way the character is presented, it seems she should be a lot younger. Another problem is featured after the death of Ada's father. Obviously Ada is going through rough times taking care of herself and the farm all alone but her faces just holds up so well. Boy! The medical care back in the 1860's may have been crap but make-up was just spectacular. This sarcasm being said, they could have made her character a little less dolled up, cosmetic-wise, as the film progressed. Despite a somewhat impressive performance by Jude Law, the bottom line is that the so-called relationship between Inman and Ada lack substance. They barely know each other and yet the audience is made to believe that they act as if they have known each other all their lives and once the war is over, they can go back to where they started? And critics should especially be yelled at believing this after ranting on such films as Daredevil and Pearl Harbor for attempting the same thing Cold Mountain tries to pull off. If there is anything good about the cast, it has to be Renee Zellweger's Ruby, who really picks up the film where it seems to be heading for a continuous decline.
Overall, Cold Mountain manages to outdo last year's Gangs of New York but like the English Patient, it takes the film a long time to get to its predictable and pointless conclusion. Once again the Union on the basis of the Civil War are demonized and made to look like idiots no more so then in sequences like the scene that involved Natalie Portman's unnecessary character. Even the issue of freeing the slaves, which was not the main issue of the Civil War though many try to make it that way, isn't as focused on correctly as they could have made it. What would have been a lot more interesting then the bland `love story' would have been the more grand battle sequences and issues of statehood and homeland but those are only battered about here and there without developing into anything grand scale. The film presents a valid topic of the Confederacy wanting to start a war and even doing anything they could to fight the North but when it comes to the end of the war, they blame everybody but themselves for what has been brought upon them. Director Minghella could have done something like that but chose not to. Once again another lackluster Civil War feature is presented to the movie-going public. Hopefully the American education system can pick up where this film fails to lead up to.
My Rating: *** out of 5 (Grade: C)