Cold Mountain (2003)

THE PAIN OF WAR NEVER CHANGES
The novel COLD MOUNTAIN was one that took the world by surprise. Not a book that some thought would find an audience, it became a hit and spawned this film as well. And it is one of the most romantic, although brutal, films to come along in some time.

The story takes place at the beginning of and throughout the years of the Civil War, Young Ada Monroe (Nicole Kidman) has moved to the town of Cold Mountain with her minister father (Donald Sutherland). There, she meets and falls in love with a quiet man named Inman (Jude Law) and we are off and running on a rocky romance.

The couple never has the time to court as most do when word of war erupts and changes their world forever. Inman sets out to fight and not until the last moment before leaving do the two have the chance to let each other know that there is more going on here than just minor attraction. Inman heads out with the knowledge that Ada will wait for him until his return.

It is these words, along with a book she gave him and the three letters he receives that keep Inman going. Through the killing and battles around him, including that of Petersburg. Inman sees the folly of war and the loss of those around him. Wounded in battle, he is sent to a hospital to recover. Changed by all he has witnessed, Inman deserts and heads home for Cold Mountain and the woman he loves.

While this is going on, we are brought into the story of Ada as well. Her father passes away and she begins to lose hope. Unable and unknowledgeable in the day to day means of living, she depends on others to help her. One sends along Ruby Thewes (Renee Zellwegger), a self sufficient up front young woman to help. Not only does Ada begin to change in what she learns and how she deals with the world, Ruby offers a character with more depth than is revealed on the surface.

The ladies resurrect the farm and Ada's way of life. All of this takes place under the watchful eye of Teague (Ray Winstone), a ruffian who once owned the land Ada now possesses and who wants it back. Teague and his men are now the law of Cold Mountain, placed in charge of hunting down deserters first and foremost.

The movie follows two separate paths, one the literal one of Inman as he travels and meets all sorts of people from a randy minister (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) to a young woman (Natalie Portman) with a child whose husband was killed in the war. Each episode of what Inman is witness to brings images to mind of the Civil War that many are not familiar with.

Ada, on the other hand, makes her own journey, trading in the somewhat pampered life she had led before as a young woman for the world of a woman who must tend to learning how to live life on her own should it come to that. With no men and slaves now a thing of the past, only Ada with the help of Ruby can survive.

Along the side is the story of Ruby who deals with her past, including her father (Brendan Gleeson) who left her to fight. He returns with a two friends and they are welcomed back, though not quite with open arms. And now that they are deserters as is Inman, the shadow of Teague must eventually fall into place.

The paths that these lives take is one that moves slow at first, but builds to an ending that is both romantic and tragic at the same time. It seems that all literary romances end in some sort of tragedy (thing back to TITANIC, a movie that I felt contained nothing of the heart that this one does). And this tale does so as well, though where that tragedy comes from I won't share here. Instead, watch the film, keep a box of Kleenex handy and enjoy a story of America's past. And while anti-war to an extent, it does not do so with a holier than thou attitude. The actions and images seen say it all.

One of the Great Love Stories
This will go down as a classic-along with "The Notebook". What else is there to say if you're a romantic? I never tire of watching it.

A Bit Cliched
Typical Civil War romance built around the conceit that a rebel soldier would desert and then traipse through hell to get back to a woman he kissed once and barely knew before he headed off to war. The film would have you believe that's all the motive Jude Law needed. Times sure must have been a lot more innocent back in 1864. Of course, the soldier finally makes it back more than two hours later, only to die in his lover's arms when shot by some Confederate vigilantes. Nicole Kidman's accent is pretty funny: Aussie tries to sound Southern. Didn't work. Renee Zellweger's part is well done as is Philip Seymour Hoffman's. The battle sequences are pretty realistic, I guess. I didn't fight in the Civil War, though. All in all, quite overrated Hollywood hokum, as usual. Too long, too. But worth a rent or a library borrow.