Cold Mountain

Two and a half stars

Written and directed by Anthony Minghella. Based on the novel by Charles Frazier. Released by Miramax Films. Rated R (for violence and sexuality). Running time: 155 minutes.

The cast

Inman Jude Law
Ada Nicole Kidman
Ruby Renee Zellweger
Teague Ray Winstone
Stobrod Brendan Gleeson
Reverend Monroe Donald Sutherland
Veasey Philip Seymour Hoffman
Sara Natalie Portman
Sally Swanger Kathy Baker

by Michael Drakulich

I think few would argue Anthony Minghella doesn't shoot lush, beautiful looking films. He has an artistic flare for cinematography and frame composition.

"Cold Mountain" is no exception. Scene after scene is wonderfully staged and captures the gritty desperation of a small North Carolina town during the Civil War.

One may admire this film for these reasons, but there is an empty feeling to it because so much is invested in its look.

Laconic laborer Inman (Jude Law) leaves Cold Mountain, North Carolina to fight for the Confederacy in the Civil War. Before he leaves, he falls in love with Ada Monroe (Nicole Kidman), the daughter of Reverend Monroe (Donald Sutherland).

Ada and Inman's courtship is very brief but passionate, and apparently from the events that follow, committed.

Inman spends a few years on the battlefront and his initial enthusiasm for defending the South wanes considerably.

Following one memorable battle scene, he is shot while trying to save a fellow soldier. As he recovers in a hospital, a woman reads a letter from Ada asking him to come home as soon as possible. Instead of recovering and returning to the front lines, the now-disillusioned Inman deserts and embarks on a treacherous journey home.

Meanwhile, Ada is having difficulty keeping her farm in order after her father dies. As one who has been raised a "proper" lady, she is ill-equipped to manage a farm, nor does she have much money.

Inman's journey is akin to Odysseus in the dangers he faces, including a band of sex-starved women much like the Sirens.

Along his way home, he encounters a disgraced minister and a single mother about to be raped by Union soldiers. He is temporarily captured by the Home Guard, whose job is to round up deserters. He’s then cared for by a wise old woman after he escapes.

Each episode is a compelling one, but strung together they lack cohesiveness within the framework of a two-plus hour movie.

Cohesiveness could have been achieved had Law's character shown more outwardly his emotional struggle that accompanies his will to survive.

True, he is a simple man prone to simple actions. Long monologues explaining it all for us would have been and abrupt change in character.

But if Minghella wants the audience to root for Inman's reunion with Ada, we have to see and feel more clearly his anguish and longing, and know unequivocally his quest is spurred by his love for her. This is of utmost importance since their courtship was so fleeting, but it’s not there. He’s inexpressive to a fault.

And that can be said for the rest of the movie, not just Inman. It’s detached. It lacks soul and feeling.

We see clearly it reflects the consummate craft of its makers. The opening battle scene where Union soldiers detonate explosives underneath Confederate lines was artfully conceived and exquisitely choreographed. It more than sets the tone.

But it is beauty and skill bereft of personality or passion.

More pointedly, Kidman's character is the personification of such a flaw. She always looks as though she just finished shooting a Revlon ad. Even when she learns from Ruby (Renee Zellweger) how to rehab the farm, Ada looks throughout as though she were about to step on a fashion runway in Milan. Not a smudge adorns her face, not a speck of dirt under her fingernails.

In comparison, Zellweger deserves respect for allowing herself to look her part. She is a farmhand and bears all the trappings. It’s almost startling to recall this is the same woman in "Bridget Jones’s Diary" and "Down With Love."

Minghella’s approach is the same as what Kidman shows on screen: look good without getting dirty. He could have turned a good film into a great one if he’d gotten a little dirtier by exploring the raw emotion of such dire circumstances more deeply.
*
Michael Drakulich is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association. He may be reached at (708) 802-8841 or via e-mail at mdrakulich@starnewspapers.com