Movie Reviews

Anthony Minghella's Cold Mountain begins in the middle of a heated battle during the American Civil War. At first I was a little worried that the film might turn out to be a very American-centric story about that era of U.S. history. Turned out, however, that the civil war really only plays as a backdrop to what is really a love story, with soldier W.P. Inman (Jude Law) and wealthy reverend’s daughter Ada Monroe (Nicole Kidman) as the two star-crossed lovers.

Moreover, the "love" in this love story is largely a device that drives the adventures of the two characters after they are separated when Inman is sent off to battle. Inman is later injured in battle, and eventually decides to escape from a military hospital to make his way back to Ada, despite being branded a wanted criminal for 'deserting' the war. Half the film follows Inman as he struggles to return home. Ada, meanwhile, finds herself alone and helpless on her large piece of farmland in the town of Cold Mountain after her father passes away. After spending a number of months in depressing isolation, she hires some help in the name of Ruby Thewes (Renee Zelleger), and begins to rebuild her farm in the hope that Inman will eventually return to her.

That's the basis of Cold Mountain, but what makes it a really good movie is all the stuff that goes on as Inman tries to return to Ada, and as Ada tries to rebuild her farm with Ruby. Minghella really crams a lot of material into his two-and-a-half hour movie, but he does it in a way that isn't overpowering or overwhelming. Throw in some beautiful cinematography and some really powerful battle/fight scenes, and it adds up to a quality piece of film.

What didn't quite work for me, though, is the "love" part of this love story. While Law and Kidman do well enough in their separate parts of the movie (though the particular character of Inman doesn't really require much out of Law), it wasn't entirely convincing to me that they were so in love that they would make the huge sacrifices that they made for each other. But again, the "love" here serves mainly as the trigger for other parts of the film, including the introduction of the Ruby Thewes character. It's a really unusual role for Zellweger, but she steals the show during every scene she's in.

Cold Mountain has some very sad and some very disturbing moments to it, but it's got so many "moments" that there's bound to be something in it for just about everyone. It's a good movie.