Cold Mountain
The Plot:
Directed
by Academy Award®-winner Anthony Minghella ("The English Patient",
"The Talented Mr. Ripley") and based on Charles Frazier's best-selling
Civil War novel of the same name, COLD MOUNTAIN tells the story of Inman (Jude
Law), a wounded confederate soldier who is on a perilous journey home to his
mountain community, hoping to reunite with his pre-war sweetheart, Ada (Nicole
Kidman). In his absence, Ada struggles to survive, and revive her father's
farm with the help of intrepid young drifter Ruby (Renee Zellweger). (From
Yahoo Movies)
My Thoughts: (Reviewed by K-Billy)
Make no mistake when this film is advertised at a Civil War epic, for it is not. At it’s core it is a love story, love tragedy if you will. I’m torn as to whether the war was merely a backdrop for the story, causing the lover’s to be separated and always longing to be reunited, or if the love story was a backdrop for the war. Effectively showing the pointless loss of life and the effects that such an event has on all those that feel it’s prescence. This is something that happened to bother me about the picture, the message seems to be clear as far as the moral or purpose of the film is concerned, until the end comes and then you find yourself deeply dissatisfied. The ending alone for me took something away from the film because I as the viewer didn’t really feel that that which took place was altogether appropriate for the film. It saddened me really, for I found myself wanting to enjoy this movie more then I did. I was expecting the sweeping Civil War epic, and what you end up receiving is a much more intimate story that parallels the journies and trials of the two lovers.
It’s an altogether well acted film but Kidman seems quite artificial in her love for Jude Law’s character Inman. That is sometimes the problem that you’d encounter with a very large star in a film like this for you feel it’s cheapened by their prescence. Not to say that she wasn’t entertaining in the film, but I began to grow tiresome of her sweet nothings whispered to Inman through voiceovers in the film. As far as Law is concerned I much prefered his performance when he was away from Kidman then when he was with her. Overall however he really didn’t have much to say with his only purpose being to return to his beloved who waits for him in Cold Mountain. However there are a couple of extremely entertaining performances. The first being Renee Zellwegger as Ruby, a tough as nails woman who comes to help the troubled Ada while she waits for Inman. Zellweger brings a fiery character to the screen in what proved to be a fairly melancholy film. So it was as refreshing as anything to have some passion infused into the story. With one of the best entrances I’ve seen in a while, which involved her ripping the head of a rooster as casually as milking a cow. I found myself crying out loud in half terror, half amusement. The other performance is that of the marked Reverand which sadly is a smaller role, played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman. He is absolutely hilarious in the short time that he spends with Inman while escaping a town that scorns him for having a child with a slave. Hoffman like Zellweger adds a lighter tone to the film that altogether uplifts it. Beyond that I felt the other characters were a tad one dimensional which cheapened the experience for me. Within Ada’s universe back at Cold Mountain you find all of the cliché characters you wouldn’t have expected to be in this film. Such as the helping neighbors, and most notably the evil sheriff/usurper and his gang of hoolums. This particularly annoyed me because it of course then sets the stage for a showdown between the men and Inman at the end of the film that should never have occurred. There was really no reason for such a one dimensional villian when the real villian of the film should have been the war. I found this aspect of Cold Mountain to be terribly generic.
It’s actually a wonderfully directed film by Minghella, with absolutely gorgeous scenery. However the story doesn’t fair as well. The problem is that the film ends up leaving you unsatisfied emotionally. For me personally I didn’t feel that anything at all had really been resolved other then Ruby being reunited with her father. Other then that I couldn’t find a reason to care about what ended up happening. Inman escapes death so often on his journey home that you find yourself struggling to consider him human, for he turns into somewhat of an action star, seemingly invincible. Cold Mountain is not without it’s positive’s however. As stated above it’s beautifully directed and has some very entertaining performances and as a whole the acting is nothing to complain about. But the story is altogether too melancholy, much like the recent western Open Range. And you will notice the nearly two hours and thirty minutes that this film takes place during. It tends to drag in many a part and towards they end I was just waiting for the credits. If you’re thinking of finding the “Best Picture” so to speak, or Civil War epic, then you’ll be disappointed. What you receive is a love story, sadly though it’s an unsatisfying one. Ultimately Cold Mountain is not a bad movie by any respect. It’s effectively a good film yet nothing special that should be acknowledged. But as I mentioned above, it’s a film that leaves you feeling empty. This movie could’ve been better but the end keeps it from reaching it’s potential.
Starring:
Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger, Eileen Atkins, Brendan Gleeson
Directed by: Anthony Minghella
Rated R