Cold Mountain
In this classic story of love and devotion set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, a wounded Confederate soldier named W.P. Inman deserts his unit and travels across the South, aiming to return to his young wife, Ada, who he left behind to tend their farm. As Inman makes his perilous journey home, Ada struggles to keep their home intact with the assistance of Ruby, a mysterious drifter sent to help her by a kindly neighbor.
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- Cast:
- Jude Law , Nicole Kidman , Renée Zellweger , Eileen Atkins , Brendan Gleeson , Philip Seymour Hoffman , Natalie Portman
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Reviews
Simply Perfect
It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.
Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.
Short and Simple Review by WubsTheFadgerFirst off, the film delivers a story that is profoundly powerful and heartbreaking. It shows us the needlessness of The Civil War and how it destroyed innocence and purity. The film shows us the drive and power of love and how it can overcome the greatest of odds. The ending is powerful and touching in so many ways.The acting is amazing. Jude Law delivers a stunning performance as a man who overcomes the greatest of odds. Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger also perform very well. Brendan Gleeson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Giovanni Ribisi, Donald Sutherland, Ray Winstone, Kathy Baker, James Gammon, Charlie Hunnam, Jack White, and Cillian Murphy all add so much to the story and the devastation of the Civil War. Natalie Portman's performance really hit home for me. She plays a woman who has lost everything and just wants hope. She is broken and torn. Her performance was stunning.The pacing is a little slow, but I was completely engaged throughout the entire movie. The runtime is a little overlong.Pros: Powerful and heartbreaking story, touching ending, amazing acting, Jude Law's performance, Natalie Portman and her powerful acting, and a great message about loss, love, and warCons: Some slow pacing and an overlong runtimeOverall Rating: 8.4
The movie amazingly displays the time period of the Civil War, showing the great scene of the giant explosion that started the Battle of Crater in part of Siege of Petersburg as the opening scene into the movie. Just with this horrific scene of the war, it brought me the feelings of terror and the visions of the war that I could never imagine. It got me absorbed into the movie quickly. Throughout the movie, it provided us the hardships that the main characters, as well as the people that lived through the war, had to survive in. The film not only conveyed one perspective during these terrifying times, it showed us a woman's point of view and what they had endured when the men had to live for war. Additionally, the film portrayed the scenes of the war very well with appropriate attire and choice of music. The director, Anthony Minghella gave the realities of the battles that men were forced to face, for instance, some of the Yankee soldiers were treated brutality. Nevertheless, this film is originally on two lovers (Inman and Ada) that longed for another and hoped to reunite since the Civil War brought them apart.It's a tragic story that both Ada and Inman only have memories of each other to rely on. Also, in the film there were symbols displayed to foreshadow the outcomes of the couples. It was very interesting to connect the dots and predict the outcomes, which I was not expecting. Briefly, the movie overall was excellent. Not only did it showed the battles that one could not imagine except to those who experienced war. Jude Law and Nicole Kidman both played their character very well. Law portrayed as Inman, a young man that was very considerate and shy that lived in Cold Mountain (NC) while Kidman was Ada that was forced to mature as her father died. This movie had made a great impact on me and I would highly recommend this, however, to those who are very emotional be prepare to cry.
Director Anthony Minghella knows how to mix war with romance and drama. And this film is full of great stars like Renee Zellweger,Jude Law, and Nicole Kidman. The past may hurt, but you have to forget it and move on. Ruby Thewes taught me in this film how to survive on your own with limited supplies. Inman taught me how to stay out of trouble and always remember that less talk, less mistake. While Ada Monroe taught me how to be patient and learn how to wait. Eventually, this is about survival. Patience is a virtue. Waiting may hurt, but you just have to be strong enough to accept the truth. Life goes on. Ruby is a role model and good friend to Ada. Friendship is all about trusting,helping, and loving each other. She taught Ada to never lose faith and hope. Never give up on something. Renee Zellweger deserved her Oscar win for this epic film. Good friends are the hardest things to find. If you want to become a good friend, make your friendship count. God Bless My Verdict: 10/10
"English Patient" director Anthony Minghella died before his time. Nevertheless, he made one of the more memorable movies about the American Civil War. Adapting Charles Frazier's first novel, writer & director Minghella depicted aspects of the War Between the States that no other film else has ever detailed. First, this epic length war film unfolds with the disastrous Battle of the Crater at Petersburg in 1864. Late in the war, Union troops tunneled beneath Confederate lines and detonated explosives that they had stockpiled in a mine. Indeed, this constituted a daring maneuver, but the Union didn't take into account the consequences of such a plan and they paid dearly for their audacity. Our sympathetic protagonist, Inman (Jude Law of "Alfie"), is one of many Southern soldiers resting in a trench who got the surprise of their lives. Moments before the explosion, a rabbit tears through their trench and not long afterward the charges ignited and blew up the area. The spectacle of the explosion is truly incredible. Afterward, Union troops poured into the crater as they charged Southern lines, but the rebels trapped them in the crater. "Cold Mountain" not only deals with the battlefront, but also it concerns the home front. After Inman and his friends enthusiastically march off to war, some of the most notorious citizens, led by Teague (Ray Winstone of "Beowulf"), establish a Home Guard. The Home Guard has the right to enter anybody's home if they suspect the occupants are housing deserters, and they may even be able to confiscate the property. Teague and his evil henchman, including Boise (Charlie Hunnam of TV's "Sons of Anarchy"), exploit these opportunities for their monetary gain, too.Aside from these two little seen events, Minghella assembled a strong stellar cast. As Ada Monroe, the refined daughter of the widowed Reverend Monroe (Donald Sutherland of "M.A.S.H."), Nicole Kidman is a young lady who has been raised like an aristocrat in Charleston, South Carolina, and has led an insular life. She doesn't know any practical to do, except play the piano. The Reverend Monroe left Charleston for reasons concerning his declining health. When they arrive in Cold Mountain, Ada meets Inman while his friends and he are erecting Reverend Monroe's church. Ada and Inman mingle now and then, but they never indulge themselves in hugs and kisses until the day that Inman must depart for war. After the opening Petersburg battle, Minghella shifts back and forth between Ada and Inman. Ada's father dies and she struggles to survive on a farm that she knows nothing about until her neighbors send her a laborer, Ruby (Renée Zellweger) who gets everything back in order for Ada and teaches her how to survive. Meantime, Inman leaves a hospital and deserts. He spends most of his time on foot avoiding groups of Home Front horsemen. Along the way, he encounters a hypocritical preacher, Reverend Veasey (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who has impregnated an African-American slave woman and plans to murder her. Inman thwarts the minister's plans and compels him to suffer the wrath of his congregation. Miraculously, Veasey escapes and stumbles across Inman later during his flight. "Cold Mountain" qualifies as first-class from fade-in to fade-out, with a top-notch supporting cast, including Natalie Portman, Jena Malone, Brendan Gleeson, Giovanni Ribisi, Katy Baker, and Lucas Black. No expense appears to have been overlooked by Minghella in this impressive $79-million production that was partially lensed on location in the Carpathian Mountains in Romania. If you consider yourself a Civil War fan, you should enjoy this movie.Interestingly enough, as an afterward of sorts to my comment about the Civil War and this film, historian Gary W. Gallagher cites Minghella from an interview about the director's sentiments about the Civil War and its relevance to "Cold Mountain." Minghella words can be found in Gallagher's book "Causes Won, Lost, & Forgotten: How Hollywood and Popular Art Shape What We Know About The Civil War." Says Minghella, "This film is not a history lesson. It doesn't exist to stand in for a study of a real event. Rather, it tries to cast light on some circumstances which surround any war . . . . If I thought I was making a Civil War film, then I wouldn't have taken this project on."