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Cold Mountain Customer Reviews (10 - 12 of 87 Reviews)

It will be a cold in hell day before I buy Cold Mountain
This movie is, without question, the absolute worst movie ever made. This movie is, essentially a remake of "Gone With The Wind", which, when considering the amount of killing, is extremely boring. Cold mountain is equally boring, no one I have met was able to stay awake through the whole thing. After viewing this movie, I am sure you will wish it was gone with the wind. However this, unfortunately will never happen, considering, as I have heard from unreliable sources, that both the house and Senate have passed an amendment illegalising the destruction of this movie. I have also heard that it is the favorite movie of both Hillery Clinton and John Kerry. The box claims that it is in English, but most of the characters seem to be speaking an obscure dialect of ancient Chinese. I am told that this is only due to their "southern accents", but I am very sceptical of that. The characters also cry too much, and win academy awards for their poor acting in doing so. This movie does invoke a strong emotional reaction from the audience, but I am not entirely sure that it is the one intended.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me at supremeruleroftheearth@yahoo.com

3.5; falls short of the movie it thinks it is
Many films try to be the next Oscar contender. It's almost as if a director who wants one decides "I'm gonna do a period piece with a love story and stuff". That was the feeling I got from Cold Mountain, a would-be Oscar contender if it wasn't for the basic idea of the film and also it plays out like "and the next cameo is...". While it's not a bad film, it's definately something that could've been something better.

The film centers around 2 main stories, 2nd of which comes later. Inman is a soldier in the Civil War who had an incredibly brief romantic encounter with Ada. Getting wounded, he breaks from the hospital and tries to get back to her, meanwhile being hunted for deserting the war since you're supposed to fight in it. Ada strikes a friendship with Ruby who turns Ada's failing farm around. And there you have it: a journey movie with new people on one hand, and a girl buddy movie on the other.

It's quite a credibility stretch even with powers of love. At one point, Inman runs into a single mother and there is that option to stay with her yet he goes off to Ada. Why? They really only shared one kiss. We have to basically agree that these 2 were meant for each other and that's the end of it. I wouldn't go that far. At least films like Titanic and other romantic movies have the person gradually falling for them, not in a split second.

I wasn't kidding when I said "name that cameo". We have Donald Sutherland, Jena Malone, resident Paul Thomas Anderson repeats Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Melora Waters, Giovanni Ribisi, Brendan Gleeson, even Jack White of the White Stripes is here and surprisingly he's not that bad. Of course the standout is the single mom played by Natalie Portman. Great at playing that willing to support herself and protect her baby but also just needing someone. Just too bad she drops out just like everyone else.

Unlike the overlong English Patient, Cold Mountain in a way deserves its lengths. Lot of bases to cover and the extra time allows the characters to develop. It's just too bad characters drop out as fast as they introduce them, one of which literally doesn't last 2-3 minutes. Most of the time we don't even know their names it's just "hey can I walk with you? Blargh, I'm dead" and on to the next one. So it's just like the film itself: we're supposed to care about the epic war and love story setting yet it feels kind of hollow. It's like "oh we were supposed to cry and be moved? I didn't know that".

Where the film shines is the main leads. Each actor is more than capable in their part with Renee Zellweger ending up winning the Oscar which I can understand although her accent can grate at times. But for some reason casting really attractive people and having them all scarred and muddy seems out of their range oddly. As if they don't belong in that dirty war savaged world which isn't their fault really. Natalie is an attractive actress but seeing her in dirty rags or in a red carpet dress isn't distracting.

A football jock tries to win the college dean's daughter so he pretends to be debonair and "James Bond"-esque but we know the truth. Similar is Cold Mountain, a good film but no Oscar winner here.


Life during the Civil War brought to the surface.
Anthony Minghella tackles a tough subject. The Civil War can be a hard topic of interest. If it's not done right, you'll lose your audience. Luckily, he uses the right material for his project.

Based on the novel by Charles Frazier, Minghella's screenplay does well in describing the way life was during the mid-1800's. Many loved ones wrote letters to their husbands, sons and friends in such passionate detail. It's as true today as much as it was back then.

There are one or two deep holes in this film, but the plot changes very quickly and keeps our attention going by displaying some great performances. Philip Semour Hoffmann gives a great performance as the wanted reverend. Natalie Portman gives a short, but effective job as the long-suffering widow. But it's Renee Zellweger who stands out with the best acting job in this movie. A well deserved Oscar as Ruby, the drifter who helps Ada (Nicole Kidman) hold together the farm duing the troubled times.

Though I haven't read the novel, this film stands out on it's own as a very good, romantic Civil War epic. Not on the level as "Gone With The Wind", but still an entertaining and powerful film. Recommended!

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