Movie Review: Cold Mountain

Cold Mountain (2003) is a luscious Civil War era movie that keeps you engaged and invested in the characters.  The story begins by setting up the great love between Inman (Jude Law) and Ada (Nicole Kidman) in the beautiful southern countryside of Cold Mountain.  They have a few brief encounters before Inman goes off to fight for the Confederates.  He is badly injured and sneaks away from the infirmary to be with his love rather than die for a cause he doesn't believe in.  This is where his Odyssey-like journey begins.

Ada faces her own plight back in Cold Mountain when her father (Donald Sutherland) dies suddenly and she must run the farm lest it fall back into the greedy hands of Mr. Teague (Ray Winstone), the head of the town guard who, along with his blood-thirty muscle, Bosie (Charlie Hunnam), goes around terrorizing civilians and hunting deserters.

Barely surviving, a kind neighbor sends the strong-willed Ruby Thewes, played by Renée Zellweger (Chicago, the Bridget Jones movies), to help Ada take care of the farm.  The two opposites help each other learn and become good friends.  Ruby's wayfaring, fiddle-playing Dad, played by Brendan Gleeson (Harry Potter, Troy, Gangs of New York), turns up with music-playing mates Pangle (Ethan Suplee, from Remember the Titans) and Georgia (Jack White, from The White Stripes) and tries to earn back Ruby's trust.

Inman meets a number of colorful characters on his journey as well.  Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Big Lebowski, Almost Famous) plays a lecherous preacher, Giovanni Ribisi (Gone in 60 Seconds, Avatar) plays host to the Odyssey-required siren scene, Cillian Murphy (Red Eye, Chris Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy) is a desperate Union soldier, and Natalie Portman (V For Vendetta, the Star Wars prequels, Léon: The Professional) is fantastic as a grieving widow with a newborn baby.  Inman tries to do his best by all these people while trudging home to Ada.

It's really the supporting characters that steal the movie.  While Nicole Kidman and Jude Law play the yearning lovers well, it is their interactions with the people they meet along the way that keeps you interested.  And at two and a half hours, that is much needed.  The female characters are strong and smart, and show remarkable resolve in the trying times.  Zellweger even won an Oscar for her portrayal of Ruby.

While love is the overarching reason for the story, the kindness of strangers and doing what's right no matter the odds is what the story of Cold Mountain is really about, and why it is worth watching.  The beautiful locations and period outfits are worth a look as well.  If you've never seen this movie, or haven't in a while, I'd definitely recommend it.

(photos collected from fanpop, twitter, sky, googleimages, miramax, zimbio, and hotflick.net)