Cold Mountain Review
by Bob Bloom (bobbloom AT iquest DOT net)February 19th, 2004
COLD MOUNTAIN (2003) 3 stars out of 4. Starring Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger, Donald Sutherland, Brendan Gleeson, Natalie Portman, Ray Winstone, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kathy Baker, James Gammon, Giovanni Ribisi, Eileen Atkins and Melora Walters. Based on the novel by Charles Frazier. Screenplay by Anthony Minghella. Directed by Minghella. Rated R. Running time: Approx: 157 mins.
Inman and Ada exchange fewer than a dozen words before he goes off to fight for the Confederacy.
The two may be miles apart, but during the fighting, they remain spiritually connected; their correspondence stoking the fires of love.
So when Inman receives a letter from his Ada imploring him to come home, the recuperating soldier deserts a lost cause to return to his true love.
The journey undertaken by Inman and Ada is the crux of Cold Mountain, director Anthony Minghella’s latest feature. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain is a 19th century Odyssey.
For Inman must cover many miles and overcome many obstacles before he can return to his North Carolina home, while at the same time Ada must learn to fend for herself and rely on her own strengths so Inman will have a home upon his return.
For Ada is a genteel Southern woman, daughter of a minister, who was taught the social graces, but knows nothing about working a farm or keeping a home. She can neither cook nor reap nor sow. That is until she meets Ruby, a plain-speaking, hard-scrabble young woman sent by a neighbor to help Ada maintain her farm.
The two learn from each other, and together they survive on the homestead, awaiting the end of the war.
Minghella provides a rich emotional texture to the story, but he takes too much time telling it. The main travails Inman must endure on his journey soon become repetitious — a matter of running, being captured, escaping, fleeing, being captured again, escaping once more.
Minghella wants to show us Inman’s determination, but does so in such a heavy-handed and tedious manner that we soon yearn for him to hurry up and reach his destination.
The screenwriter-director has more success on the homefront, showing the problems and dangers women without men had to confront during hard times.
When Inman and Ada finally reunite, you are more likely to be relieved than overjoyed.
Overall, the performances are strong. Jude Law conveys the disillusionment of a soldier experiencing the loss of what he is fighting for. Law’s face is a roadmap for the weariness and fatigue warfare creates.
Nicole Kidman easily fits into Ada’s persona. At first she seems tentative, like a fragile flower, pale and in need of protection. But as the war progresses and she begins to lose everything around her, she develops, with Ruby’s aid, a heartiness and toughness that allows her to cope and survive. At the same time Kidman retains Ada’s warmth and compassion.
Renee Zellweger nearly slips into caricature as Ruby. During her first few scenes you almost expect her to break out singing “You Can’t Get a Man With a Gun,” but as Cold Mountain progresses, she displays a wider range of emotions and more depth.
Among the large supporting cast, Natalie Portman is heartbreaking as a young Confederate widow who aids Inman, while Brendan Gleeson is wise and charming as Ruby’s roguish, fiddle-playing father.
At 2 hours and 37 minutes, Cold Mountain drags at spots. Minghella’s staging of a battle at the outset is fascinating in its explosive violence and tragedy.
Plus Minghella does not adequately create any chemistry between Inman and Ada to help justify his actions, nor the passions they exchange in their letters.
Cold Mountain is not a movie you will warm up to. It is like a painting hanging in a museum; you study it, admire it, then move on to something else. It ignites your admiration, but fails to sufficiently seize your emotions.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, Ind. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or at [email protected]. Bloom's reviews also can be found at the Journal and Courier Web site: www.jconline.com
Other reviews by Bloom can be found at the Rottentomatoes Web site: www.rottentomatoes.com or at the Internet Movie Database Web site:
www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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