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Cold Mountain Customer Reviews (58 - 60 of 87 Reviews)

"3 1/2 stars actually....Not Quite Best Picture,either"
I bought the DVD of Cold Mountain, "excited" to see a film friends and family "raved" about, I'm glad I own a copy,I enjoyed the extra features,and the movie. I can ,however, understand Hollywood not giving the film "Best Picture"...
I wanted to subtitle this review, "been there, done that!".
Good individual acting performances, especially "Renee Zellwiger"
who made me chuckle several times with her performance as "Ruby".
Nicole Kidman was "good" as usual...I've come to expect that from her, and Jude was "very good" as Inman. They could not rise above the screenplay however, which wasn't so good.
For openers, how many "Teague's" can Hollywood give us? Think of Roots, Gone With the Wind, even "Josey Wales" and "he" is there. How many love stories about doomed lovers? How many preachers gone "bad"? I liked the storyline "basically", and the recreation of the "Battle of the Crater" at Petersburg, Virginia
was "very good",but the rest was almost too predictable,because of all the previous TV movies and theatrical releases we've seen about or based on the Civil War.
I thought the music and costuming was excellant,and the features included with the DVD are great! I only wish the movie was better,and I feel for the actors who tried, but could not overcome the screenplay. If you enjoy watching Nicole and Renee's
work, you won't go wrong getting this DVD,if you are a movie fan,
or collector, you may be disappointed.

An Almost Classic
"Cold Mountain" is exquisite, as defined as 'of delicate artistry and composition" or as "of extreme beauty'. Its roots go back to the sweeping epics of long ago, such as "Dr. Zhivago" and "Gone With the Wind". Moviegoers addicted to fast food and instant gratification may find it slow and even tedious. More patient viewers, however, should be enthralled. In the end, "Cold Mountain" does not quite achieve the artistic heights its makers were aiming for, but its many moments of great beauty and emotion make it a worthwhile effort. It is one of 2003's best releases.

Unlike its epic predecessors, "Cold Mountain" does not take place in a great capitol like Atlanta or Moscow. It centers in a very small town in a sparsely populated region of North Carolina. It is a 'forgotten' part of the American Civil War. Its protagonists, Ada Monroe [Nicole Kidman] and Inman [Jude Law], do not know each other well. Ada has recently moved to Cold Mountain from Charleston, SC with her preacher father. It may be love at first sight, but Ada and Inman barely have time to get to know each other before the war separates them. Inman goes off to fight, and, when Ada's father unexpectedly dies, she is left to tend their farm, a task which her classical education upbringing leaves her ill prepared for. A kind and knowing neighbor sends her a backwoods girl [Renee Zelllweger] to help out. As the war years drag on, Ada and Inman, caught up in worlds they do not understand, cling to each other as symbols of hope. Hardly knowing each other, each must fantasize about the other. Theirs is a love of the first magnitude.

The cast is brilliant, but Zellweger steals the show. It could be because she is the only major cast member who is actually from the American South. [But, then, Vivian Leigh was from England, and she stole the show in "Gone With the Wind".] I think it more likely that Ms. Zellweger is an extraordinary actress who can outdo other extraordinary actors like Ms. Kidman and Mr. Law.

Overkill
A perfect example of what happens when Hollywood thinks they have solid gold on their hands. A prize-winning book, a bestseller! Get that director of 'The English Patient'! Let's get all the A-listers . . . Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellwegger, Jude Law . . . Let's fill those supporting slots with all-stars, all the way! But you know what, the script is pretty weak. The directing is heavy-handed. How many times do they have to wave that American flag in the battle scene? Oh, the tragedy, this was America, this was America, weep weep weep. What in the hell is Nicole Kidman doing with Platinum blonde hair during the Civil War? And the lipstick . . . that has to be the most anachronistic shade ever. Now I know that Hollywood is tough on middle-aged women, but do they really have to Botox actresses half to death so they can dress up as youthful Southern Belles? The real winner in this film is that messy overgrown garden, one of the sole points of reality to be found in this film. Perhaps my problems lie with the novel as well. Is there any man alive, having faced death so closely, on a fool's errand, that would pass up on love-starved women on every other corner? Please. This film is way overrated. And Renee Zellwegger, a good actress, may have deserved a pat on the back for a job well done and for all the money she made doing it. But an Academy Award? Only in Hollywood.

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