For several months, I had been seeing previews for Cold Mountain. I do like Nicole Kidman and I decided that I wanted to see the movie. I didn’t see it as soon as I had wanted, but I did get to see it.

Reverend Monroe and his daughter Ada moved to the small town of Cold Mountain from Charleston. They moved to a farm outside of town. A church was being built in town for the Reverend. Inman was one of the men working the church. He and Ada spoke a few times and seemed drawn to each other. Neither did anything about it though. Ada was raised in the city and knew nothing about living on a farm. She became friends with Sally Swanger, a woman who lived with her husband Esco near Ada and her father.

War broke out and Inman enlisted like many of the young men in Cold Mountain. Ada gave him a book and a picture of herself before he left. She said she would wait for him. They did share a kiss before he left. Ada wrote many letters, but Inman only received a few. The years of the war passed and things changed in Cold Mountain. Ada was left alone after her father died. She was struggling when Sally sent Ruby Thewes to help her. Ruby knew about living on a farm and what to do to take care of it. She got things back in order and taught Ada how to do things. The two women became friends.

Inman was injured and while he was recovering he received one of Ada’s letters. After he got stronger, he deserted and started back to Cold Mountain and Ada. Inman encountered several people on his journey, and some of them did help him. Deserters were being hunted down and shot. Teague, the law in Cold Mountain, and his men were hunting for deserters. They were vicious when they discovered one. Teague kept hanging around Ada, and she didn’t like that. Teague’s family formerly owned the property that Ada’s father bought and Teague wanted it back.

CAST

Jude Law - Inman
Nicole Kidman - Ada Monroe
Renee Zellweger - Ruby
Donald Sutherland - Reverend Monroe
Ray Winstone - Teague
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Veassey
Natalie Portman - Sara
Kathy Baker - Sally
James Gammon - Esco
Giovanni Ribisi - Junior

Anthony Minghella - Director and writer of the screenplay

Cold Mountain was released on Christmas day of 2003. The movie was rated R and 155 minutes long. It was based on the book by Charles Frazier. I haven’t read the book, so I don’t know how close to the book the movie stayed. This was not a movie for children.

The previews made it seem like the love story between Ada and Inman would be more prominent in Cold Mountain than it really was. Inman and Ada barely knew each other before he left, but the thought of each other was supposed to keep them both going through everything they had to deal with during the war. They had only spoken a few times, and hardly said anything during those conversations before Inman left. Their relationship could have been more developed. If they had spent a little more time together before Inman left, it would have been more believable for them both to spend the years of the war thinking about the other so much. Ada was very shy around men, which didn’t help the relationship grow before Inman left either. Ada did say to Sally at one point something that hinted that no men in Charleston had ever showed her any interest. That did seem to be a little hard to believe since she was so beautiful, though it is possible that her father kept her sheltered from the young men of Charleston. I think it would have helped for some things to make some more sense if there had been some more information about Ada’s upbringing. Really all that was known was that she grew up in a city and never learned how to cook or clean but she could recite poetry and play the piano. There was some nudity in a few scenes of the movie. There were a few things that were said or done that were sexually suggestive, but there was only one actual sex scene in the movie. There was an attempted rape at one point, but not too much was shown before it was stopped.

Cold Mountain took place during the Civil War. Ada met Inman not long before the war started. The movie showed how Ada changed during the war and what Inman did to return home to her. There were scenes that took place on the battleground. Men were injured or killed and that was shown. There was violence in several different scenes. The violence was graphic at times. Some people could be offended by those scenes. I did think that the war played a bigger part in the movie than the love story did. The war affected everyone in different ways. I generally don’t like war movies and I rarely watch them. I did enjoy Cold Mountain for the most part, but there were things that happened that I wasn’t happy about. I think I did like the movie because it focused in more on how Ada changed and adapted because of the war. There weren’t a lot of actual war scenes.

Cold Mountain was a serious movie. There were a few things that were said or done that were funny, but those things only lightened the mood of the movie briefly. Several things happened that were sad. I wasn’t happy that some of those things happened. There were other things that happened that were disturbing and difficult to watch. Awful things were done because of the war. The only wars I’ve lived through have taken place on the other side of the world. I have no idea how life would be in an area where a war was going on, and I really don’t want to have to find out.

The acting in Cold Mountain was very good. Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, and Renee Zellweger received Golden Globe nominations for their performances. I wasn’t surprised at all when Renee won for playing Ruby. Nicole and Jude did not get Golden Globes. Cold Mountain has been nominated for some Oscars, but it wasn’t nominated for best actress, director, or movie. I was surprised that it didn’t get more nominations. I was really surprised that Nicole didn’t receive one since she did give a wonderful performance. This was one of her best performances. I have seen her in several different movies and have liked her for a long time. I haven’t seen Jude Law in as many movies, but he was good in his part as well. I’ve never seen Renee Zellweger playing a part like Ruby before, and she was wonderful. I will be very surprised if she doesn’t get the Oscar for this performance. Donald Sutherland was only in a few scenes as Ada’s father, but he was good in those scenes. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Natalie Potman each had small roles as people that Inman encountered on his journey home. Both were very good in their roles.

CHARACTERS

Ada - She was a young southern woman that was raised in the city and moved to the country with her father just before the start of the Civil War. Ada played the piano beautifully and knew about literature and poetry. She didn’t know anything about cooking or running a house and farm. Her life changed drastically once the war started and her father died. She had trouble, but she was too proud to ask for help. Ada was a determined woman.

Reverend Monroe - Ada’s father. He had some health problems, which caused him to leave the city for the country with his daughter.

Inman - He lived in the small town that was near the home Ada and her father moved to. Inman was quiet and stayed to himself a lot. He was willing to do work to help friends and he was willing to go off to fight in the war. He was kind most of the time. He was determined to return home to Ada.

Sally - She lived near Ada and her father. Sally befriended the younger woman and did what she could to help her.

Ruby - A woman that arrived to help Ada. Ruby knew how to do things around a farm and she taught Ada. Ruby seemed to be tough, but she was also kind.

Teague - He was a local man that didn’t enlist once war started. He became the local law. He and his men hunted down and shot any deserters. He kept turning up around Ada.

I usually don’t like war movies, but I did mostly like Cold Mountain. Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger were wonderful. It is worth seeing the movie to see their performances.

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Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age