Cold Mountain

Anthony Minghella - Director/Screenplay Writer
Charles Frazier - Book writer
Jude Law - W.P. Inman
Nicole Kidman - Ada Monroe
Renee Zellweger - Ruby Thewes
Eileen Atkins - Matty
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Reverend Veasey
Brendan Gleason - Stobrod Thewes
Natalie Portman - Sara
Giovanni Ribisi - Junior
Donald Sutherland - Reverend Monroe
Ray Winstone - Teague
Jena Malone - Ferry Girl

Jude Law and Nicole Kidman in Cold Mountain

Cold Mountain, on the surface, appears to be a love story. In actuality it is a story of perserverance and how people endure trying times. The civil war makes an effective backdrop for this story. This is the story of two people who fall in love (or at least are about to do so) as the civil war begins and Inman (played by Jude Law) must go off to fight. The two characters face the trials and adversity that comes with war - for both those who fight it and those who must stay at home.

For Miss Ada Monroe, she is charged with maintaining her farmland after her father passes on. She is, as she notes, hardly adequate for this task. Little of her education up to this point is helpful when the fields need plowing and the wood needs chopping. She also has to deal with the local law/lynch mob leader, Teague. He rules the area mercilessly and feels that Monroe's farm should've been his. Monroe eventually ends up with a helping hand in the form of Ruby Thewes, a hardy local girl who demands only food and shelter in exchange for her work on the farm. Her character is the polar opposite of Monroe - Thewes is rugged, blunt and treats everything in her life with a no nonsense attitude. When Monroe warns Thewes of a particularly viscous rooster who has a habit of biting her, Thewes walks up to it, snaps its neck and suggests they stick it in a pot and cook it. I'll admit I had doubts when I saw Renee Zellweger cast in this role, but she pulls it off flawlessly. She is unrefined, funny, and resilient but still manages to reveal a sensitive, vulnerable being just beneath the surface.

Law's path is likewise difficult. After being wounded fighting for a cause he doesn't really believe in, he decides that he's had enough and attempts to return to Cold Mountain and his dreams of Ada Monroe. Of course, things aren't that easy - Inman has to travel by foot without being found by either Union or Confederate soldiers - to the Confederates, he was a deserter and would be punished, or at very least returned to his place in battle. In his travels he meets both friend and foe, and a very entertaining companion in Reverend Veasey. Indeed, supporting actors Hoffman and Zellweger steal the scenes in which they appear. It's not so much that Monroe and Inman are in love as they are in love with the idea of loving each other. When people face terrible struggles, they tell themselves whatever they must just to get through each day. Before Inman leave for battle, the two barely know each other, having only exchanged a few sentences between them. One of the major complaints that people have had about this film is the fact that it's two main characters have very few scenes together; I think this is a good thing, as I saw little chemistry between Kidman and Law.

Renee Zellweger won an Academy Award for her performance in this film

I enjoyed the characters and the acting more than the story. Though, I must say, as much I enjoy Nicole Kidman she appears out of place in this film. She is beautiful and stylish, a supermodel dropped onto a farm in 1850. This film is worth watching just to see Zellweger portraying Ruby Thewes. She has blossomed into a complete actress and I look forward to seeing what sort of roles she will be offered from now on. Cold Mountain is an average story elevated to a very good movie by its cast and director.

3 Wombats out of 4