Movie Title: Cold Mountain

Movie Title: Cold Mountain
Rating: 9
Reviewed By: Robin McFetridge

Review:

Sad, lonely and cruel pretty much sum up the emotions of the film Cold Mountain staring Nicole Kidman (The Hours) as the Reverend’s daughter Ada Monroe. Obviously there is a lot more to this film than three simple adjectives, but once the movie is over you are overcome by an overwhelming sense of sadness and loneliness. Presented, as a love story in the backdrop of the antiquated south during the Civil War, Cold Mountain becomes an Odyssey like journey.

Reverend Monroe (Donald Sutherland, The Italian Job) and his daughter Ada move to Cold Mountain from Charleston, North Carolina just prior to the onset of the Civil War in 1861. Ada is the perfect picture of a Southern Belle, pretty and useless. A woman had no use in learning to cook, clean, garden or work, they had slaves for that. The irony, most of the people in Cold Mountain did all their own work, but the men took up arms and went off to fight for the South. Upon Ada’s arrival a town lady, Sally (Kathy Baker, The Glass House) points out the shy Inman (Jude Law, Road to Perdition) as a gentleman interested in her so she picks up a tray of cider to serve him a drink and introduce herself. After this they meet again a couple times before she gives him a book, a picture of her and a kiss he will never forget as he leaves for war. The war is dragging on and Inman receives a serious wound landing him in the infirmary. A volunteer helping the patients read him a letter from Ada where she pleaded for him to return home to her. Back on Cold Mountain the Monroe slaves are gone, and the Reverend passed away and Ada is in dire straits. She can’t garden, plow, cook and she doesn’t have any money to buy food. The town women have been helping her out with food but they are in the same financial situation too. Along comes Ruby Thewes (Renee Zellweger, Chicago) who is a rough backwoods southern girl and she plays this role remarkably. Knowing that they shoot deserters, Inman begins a long and arduous journey back to his beloved. Throughout his odyssey he encounters remarkable characters and the real evil that encumbers this conflict called a Civil War.

What drives Inman is the thought that Ada is waiting for him and he pushes himself beyond great odds. What drives Ada is the possibility that Inman will return to her even though these two only spoke a few times and don’t really know anything about each other. This Anthony Minghella screenplay and directed film is so wonderful because of how vivid and real the supporting characters become, even if their role is brief. These brilliant supporting characters were, Ray Winstone (Sexy Beast), Brendan Gleeson (Dark Blue ), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Red Dragon), Natalie Portman (Star Wars: Attack of the Clones), James Gammon (Life or Something Like it), Giovanni Ribisi (Basic), Eileen Atkins (What a Girl Wants), Jena Malone (Life as a House), Ethan Suplee (John Q). Surprising enough, this film did not need a bunch of battle scenes to remind us of the war, as one would normally do. The hardship and cruelty that resulted from this war became bigger than life and the truly sad fact was the South inflicted more heinous acts on one another than the Union soldiers could possibly. If you are looking for a happy story or a feel good ending, you might want to pick another film. If you want to see a well-written story, fabulously portrayed on the big screen by talented actors this is the film to see. Oh and Jude Law’s behind is very pretty too. With that I give Cold Mountain nine couches on the About-Movies.com scale.

No worries.