Cold Mountain Reviews

Honestly, it has been a while since I watched this movie and maybe I shoud rewatch it at some point to make up my mind for good but I thought it was pretty good at the time. I remember, when it was released, there was a pretty good buzz about it. Indeed, it was an epic periode drama directed by Anthony Minghella, previous oscar winner with ‘Shakespeare in Love’, there was an all-star cast and it was distributed by the Weinstein brothers who always had a very agressive campaign to make sure their indie productions got a lot of attention. Eventually, even though it did pretty well financially (from a 80 million dollars budget, they reached 170 million dollars at the box-office), it managed to get only some decent reviews when it was in fact clearly aiming for the oscars but it makes sense in my opinion (Renée Zellweger did win on oscar though but it was a minor one and, on top of that, her character was in fact the most annoying one in the whole flick). Indeed, it is a rather gorgeous epic with some great decors and costumes and there was a very nice cast (Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renée Zellweger, Brendan Gleeson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Giovanni Ribisi, Donald Sutherland, Ray Winstone, Charlie Hunnam and even Jack White) . The main issue was that even though the story was entertaining, it was never really spellbinding enough. Still, I actually liked the damned thing and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Its pedigree is first rate, the kind of cinematic stuff of which mythical films are made of. And, from a technical stand point, it’s a lush, dreamy epic filled with war, romance, survival, eternal love and devotion, death and hope. But it never ignites the burner beyond a cool, distant flame when it should have engulfed with scorching white heat. Cold Mountain relies a little too heavily on longing, icy stares in its central relationship, goes a tad too broad with some supporting players, and can’t overcome an episodic narrative structure to really invest us in the tragic romance at the core.

Concerned far less with any true realistic grasp of the Civil War (where exactly are any black characters of note or importance?), and more in-line with a high-class romance novel, Cold Mountain tells the doomed love affair of Inman (Jude Law) and Ada (Nicole Kidman). Their romance was barely starting when the war breaks out and rips them from each other, nothing more than a few longing glances and stolen kisses to sustain themselves upon as they both keep those embers glowing throughout their time apart. One of the film’s main flaws in how icily and distant the central romance is treated. There’s no sexual heat or chemistry between these two, just two pretty people staring at each other vacantly, coldly.

But I digress. While injured in the war, Inman decides to walk (!) back to Ada and Cold Mountain, where she lives. Along the way he encounters one colorful character after another, each played by an actor eager to make a lasting impression with limited screen time. Ada, struggling to stay alive after the death of her father (Donald Sutherland, removed from the film far too soon), gets help from Ruby (Renée Zellweger), a cartoonish spark plug who raises Ada from the living-dead and helps her on her way to self-actualization.

Thus, we have the basic premise for the three hour film. Certain cameo roles linger in the mind and we wish we could have spent more time with them. Philip Seymour Hoffman shows up for two sequences as a randy man of the cloth in the first, and later as the same man long after he’s stopped being a preacher. His rascal of a character is well-played by Hoffman (but when is he ever bad?), and enlivens up the scenes against wooden Inman. Then there is Brendan Gleeson, Ethan Suplee and Jack White (of the White Stripes) as a trio of traveling musicians with ties to Ruby. Gleeson is particularly effective in his scenes as he seems to be playing an actual person in an actual landscape as opposed to much of the pretty doll posturing of several other cast members. And Jack White surprisingly shows off a gift for acting, he’s tender, sweet and head-over-heels for Ruby.

The most touching episode is the one in which Inman comes across a war widow with a young infant. The widow is played by Natalie Portman in a truly poignant performance. She’s desperate for a little bit of human kindness and for the warmth and comfort of her husband. What almost befalls her is too awful a fate for such a sweet, wounded creature, and I won’t reveal what happens or how it plays out, but Portman knocks her brief screen time out of the park.

This takes us back to our three leads, who offer up varying performances in what feels like two or three tonally different movies. Law and Kidman, 90% of their screen time kept apart, seem to live in two different films. Law’s a survival story about the hellish nature of war, the determination to return to domesticity, and he quietly delivers a nice performance. There are moments of pure movie star charisma, but he isn’t asked to do too much besides stare off prettily and grow an increasingly large amount of facial hair (which looks far too groomed). His character is the one stuck travelling from place to place, meeting new and quirky bit players. He must be the stoic, determined hero to everyone else’s scenery-chewing.

Kidman, an actress who can be cold and remote in the best possible ways, is almost mostly tasked with staring off into the distance. Even in the scenes where she is supposed to look like death is encroaching upon her, her hair, eyebrows and nails are all far too manicured. This distances us from her performance, which makes it easy to feel sympathetic for her but hard to root for her. That she spends so much time moodily walking around and gazing into the distance is the fault of the script, as Kidman’s presence gives her character an ethereal edge that is quite nice.

Zellweger appears on the screen and saves us from the tedium of watching Inman and Ada walk around, stare dreamily, and say maybe two words for long stretches of time. But her performance is so broad that it dips into caricature. She’s got a great introduction and a few good scenes with Gleeson, but she decides to pitch her performance at such a large, grand level that it gets to be a little too much. She seems to have wandered in from an entirely different movie.

But Cold Mountain isn’t all bad. There’s many parts to praise – the sets, costumes, cinematography, score are all top rate. Yet everything is working to look so glossy and classy that it keeps the film at a remote glance. There is no whole, complete work of art that the film is working towards. And there are a few moments of true emotion and human connection which are quite nice, yet too much time is spent looking at what amounts to a moving diorama. But it sure is pretty to look at.

Somehow I knew I was going to like this film because I love epic war films. It was a lot like a romantic epic like Gone With The Wind, The English Patient, Atonement, Pride And Prejudice, The Duchess and Australia. It is a story of adventure, war and strength within humans. It is a dark time for all of the characters because it is during the Civil War and there are awkward twists and turns that come across the characters. I find this film to be quite similar to Atonement because of the romance with separations between Inman and Ada just like Cecilia and Robbie. Also, I find the characters to be quite similar. There are two stories involved in Cold Mountain. Inman escapes the Civil War and travels to get to his lover Ada. On his journey, he meets new people. The other, Ada meets Ruby Thewes and they become good friends and try to survive during the Civil War but the two stories try and bond together to form an epic masterpiece in the end in which it did achieve.


Jude Law has taken some rather weak roles and given out bad performances in the past but when I heard he earned an Oscar nomination for Best Leading Actor in Cold Mountain, I thought to myself "he can't have been that good surely" but I was wrong. His performance was amazing. He gave Inman more of a sympathetic character because he almost starves and almost gets killed. Jude is good at playing that sort of character because everyone knows he has a voice that quite a lot of people would find attractive. I liked Jude Law in Closer but loved him even more in Cold Mountain. Nicole Kidman's performance was really good as Ada. Ada is a young, sexy and posh American woman who is alone because of being without her lover until she meets Ruby. Nicole pulls off a fantastic American accent for an Australian just like the late Heath Ledger did in Brokeback Mountain. I will be looking forward to seeing her in epic films such as Australia. Renée Zellweger delivers a performance that in my opinion she will be best known for other than Bridget Jones. Renée really made me laugh because Ruby was such a cow at times but mostly it was what Renée appeared like in Cold Mountain. She was the best in the whole film. Other supporting actors in this film are Eileen Atkins, Brandon Gleeson, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Giovanni Ribisi, Donald Sutherland and Ray Winstone. This film has an unbelievable cast.


Anthony Minghella seemed like he wanted Cold Mountain to be just as successful as The English Patient did. He had a great talent for making romantic epics. He made his work always open to a positive side of a story and a negative side as well. This film isn't Minghella's best work; I preferred The English Patient. It was a tragedy when Minghella died in March 2008. R.I.P. Anthony Minghella. The script was very good with a typical writing of its genre with American western words, short words and with very detailed and powerful scenes. When we see Ada and Ruby in this film, we sort of realise what it must have been like for the innocent people during the Civil War. It also makes us realise what is was like for a soldier during not just the Civil War but every war there has ever been which is what Inman went through.


This is both Jude Law and Renée Zellweger's best performances. Nicole Kidman was awesome but preferred in Moulin Rouge! and Eyes Wide Shut. Anthony Minghella created a masterpiece which isn't as much of a masterpiece than The English Patient. It is one of best films of 2003 and one of the best ensemble casts of all time.