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Paul Greenwood reviews
- Cert:
- Running time: 152 minutes
- Year: 2003
- Released: 2nd January 2004
- Widescreen Ratio: 2.35:1
- Rating: 5/10
Director:
- Anthony Minghella
(The English Patient, The Talented Mr. Ripley)
Cast:
- Inman: Jude Law
Ada Monroe: Nicole Kidman
Ruby Thewes: Renee Zellweger
Reverend Monroe: Donald Sutherland
Teague: Ray Winstone
Stobrod: Brendan Gleeson
Veasey: Philip Seymour Hoffman
Sara: Natalie Portman
Sally Swanger: Kathy Baker
Esco Swanger: James Gammon
Junior: Giovanni Ribisi
You need to be very careful when going to the cinema atthis time of the year.
Were right in the middle of awards season, the time when the studios releasetheir big guns in an attempt to win an Oscar. This usually means a big budget,star-laden period film that tries to blend craft and worthiness with acommercial edge – see The English Patient, A Beautiful Mind andShakespeare in Love for recent examples.
Now Anthony Minghella is attempting to repeat the success of The EnglishPatient with his latest, the American Civil War epic, Cold Mountain.Unfortunately, Cold Mountain is neither artful nor worthy – its a soap opera,its central romance as convincing as a Barbara Cartland novel or a Troy McCluremovie and, though it looks wonderful and is expertly played, its ultimatelypaper-thin and vacuous.
Ada Monroe (Nicole Kidman) is an educated and well groomed young womanwho moves with her minister father (Donald Sutherland) to the smallNorth Carolina community of Cold Mountain from war ravaged Charleston. Thereshe meets the taciturn labourer, Inman (Jude Law) and the pair quicklydevelop an interest in each other. But, this being America in the 1860s, alittle thing called The War of the Union intrudes upon their infatuation andbefore they can barely steal a kiss, Inman is off shooting Yankees.
When Adas father dies (in a scene so telegraphed, youd think the audiencehad never seen a movie before) she is left alone and helpless on their farm,with only the kindness of her neighbour keeping her from complete destitution.Just as shes almost at breaking point, help arrives in the shape of the feistyRuby (Renee Zellweger, playing it like shes auditioning for the CalamityJane remake) and between them they get the land back into shape whilebecoming close friends. Inman meanwhile, having been wounded in battle,absconds from his hospital base to try and make it back to Cold Mountain andto Ada.
The most glaring weakness of Cold Mountain is the fragility of the centralplot. Although I havent read Charles Fraziers novel on which the film is based,I can only assume it hasnt been changed too much, in which case, Frazier hasto take most of the blame. How can we possibly care whether Inman makes itback to Ada when all they shared together was one kiss and a glass of cider?Without the belief that Inmans very being depends on his getting home to thelove of his life, all he is is a deserter and therefore a coward. Yes, itwould be nicer to be at home snuggling up to Nicole Kidman than in a trenchwatching your buddys leg getting blown off, but Inmans supposed motivation isspurious at best.
Of far greater interest are the secondary plot threads concerning Ada and Rubytrying to survive and prosper on the farm and the vicious (if slightlycaricatured) vigilante tactics of the Homeguard, led by Ray Winstone, whodisingenuously use their charter to apprehend deserters to terrorise thecommunity. Indeed, there are moments in these passages, fleeting moments, whenCold Mountain threatens to attain the beauty of the great Civil War films likeGlory,Ride With the Devilor The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
Neither is Inmans journey without its compelling aspects, but his eventualgoal is of little concern. And although its fun to spot them, its still mildlydistracting that the people whom he comes across on his travels are all well-knownfaces (Giovanni Ribisi as a deceitful farmer, Natalie Portman asa lonely young widow). Special mention though should go to Dustin Hoffman,the best screen actor of the last five years, who is as brilliant as everplaying against type as a randy preacher.
Review copyright © Paul Greenwood, 2004.E-mail Paul Greenwood
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.