Love and War: Perfect Casting & Timing for a Great Movie

Rating: Null/10 (5 January 2004)

I've seen comments on this site that say that "Cold Mountain" moves too slow, it's overhyped, not enough character development, the chemistry between Nicole and Jude Law is weak, the plot is aimless and depressing, etc. To that I say hogwash.
This was an excellent film with Oscars written all over it. Directed by Anthony Minghella ("English Patient", 1996) with a sterling cast (Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, Rene Zellweger, Donald Sutherland, Natalie Portman, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Kathy Baker), "Cold Mountain" delivers. Packed with emotion, this film contains some of the great war and romance movie scenes that will be remembered and discussed for a long time. Filmed in the pristine countryside of Romania, the producers of "Cold Mountain" found the perfect setting for a film to re-create what life was like in rural North Carolina mountains during the American Civil War.
Spoiler Alert
It was absolutely amazing how two actors could be on the set together for so little time and bring out such a romantic intensity. The characters of Ada (Nicole Kidman) and Inman (Jude Law) give special meaning to the word 'longing'. The incipient romance between these two star-struck lovers had been stalled by the declaration of war, and Inman's inevitable conscription as was expected by any able-bodied men in his position. This almost unfulfilled romantic destiny is what made the chemistry between Ada and Inman more tantalizing than most films.
When the two reunite after years of separation caused by the war, the fires of passion ignite during their one night together in a cold mountain cabin like no scene I can remember in recent movie history. Nothing can be more passionate than subversive romance. Despite many doubters, Inman, an army deserter, and Ada, a harborer of deserters finally get their one night together, and that's all that counted in this movie. Every thing led to that moment, and the consequences thereafter, tragic or otherwise, mattered so much less. That's what was so superb about this film.
The 'longing' between these two characters was so powerful that nothing could deter their motivation to reunite. With the help from Ruby Thewes (Rene Zellweger), and stubborn determination, Ada was able to manage her deceased father's small farm, holding onto the fleeting notion that the man she barely fell in love with would eventually return home. And Inman, who was wounded in battle, and who during his convalescence acted upon the wise advice from an old blindman (the one roasting peanuts) to desert his army and follow his heart home to the woman he wish he knew more. The picture of Ada he carried on his person wherever he went reminded him daily of his purpose.
With our own war going on today in Iraq, we tend to forget how chaotic things can off the battlefield. Our minds are never straight when bad news never ceases and bodies keep coming home. What we tend to forget is that the families and loved ones of whom soldiers leave behind, lead lives of absence and are never at peace until their soldier has returned. Suitors and unscrupulous opportunists don't make their lives any easier, tempting and scheming those who are left behind in war.
This movie helps to put things in perspective once again while the war politics of our current times make us remember the sad stories of our past wars, stories that reach even the remote corners of supposedly placid places like Cold Mountain, N.C.