Jeff's Reviews

Thoughts on every movie I've ever seen.

Cold Mountain (2003)

Directed by Anthony Minghella

Starring Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renée Zellweger, Eileen Atkins

Author

Good as a period piece, with what feels like authentic civil war action and a brutal look at frontier life. But the story is lacking. This guy risks everything to return home to a woman that he hardly knows, the reunion is weird and unsatisfying, and then he’s shot dead? To make things worse, Law and Kidman just don’t have any chemistry. They are so weird around each other that the screentime they share lacks any real drama.

Impressive cast, but it’s tragic that many of these quintessential American roles go to foreign (mostly English) actors. Can they not find the talent around here? Law is magnetic, there really is something to his puppy dog eyes. But he just barely pulls off an accent. Kidman is pretty, but in a weird, villainous way. There’s something about her eyes I don’t trust. And in this one, she really struggles with the accent. For a foreigner, Gleeson’s performance and accent are marvelous. Zellweger, a Texan, is by far the most authentic and damn near steals the show.

Extremely long, not surprising for Minghella.

I think I always avoided watching this film because of the ambiguous title. I really had no idea what it was about.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *