Director: Anthony Minghella
Cast: Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger
A Tall Mountain to Climb
With a best-selling book for plot, and the hottest Hollywood actors Nicole Kidman, Jude Law and Renee Zellweger to helm it, you'd think Cold Mountain would be a runaway hit. Instead, it turns out to be an uninspiring performance of the turbulent times faced by the Southerners during the American Civil War.
Adapted from Charles Frazier's award-winning novel, Cold Mountain is centred on a love story that happened during the 1860s, between Ada Monroe (Nicole Kidman), a Southern beauty in love with Inman, a Confederate soldier (Jude Law).
The freshly acquainted lovebirds, however, are separated when Inman is conscripted for battle. Throughout the entire movie, the 2 lovers hardly come into any contact with each other, with Inman trying to return from the battlefield, and Ada waiting for his return.
With almost all of their time apart, there isn't much of a blossoming romance to look out for. And Inman's journey home is not only filled with various obstacles along the way, it is constantly interrupted with recollections of his pursuit of Ada, entwining with present images of Ada's evolution into a spirited survivor in a tumultuous war time.
The fragmented story-telling begins to get tedious after a while, becoming episodic with the going back and forth.
Save for Zellweger's performance as Ruby, the pragmatic tomboy who befriends Ada, the epic might have been unbearable, although in the novel, Ruby is supposed to be a freed black slave.Despite this liberty taken in casting, Ruby steals the show since Kidman's character is more of an onlooker, as she transforms from a belle into a tough chick in the movie, rather like Scarlett O'Hara in the classic Gone with the Wind.
On hindsight, the biggest problem with Cold Mountain is probably that it was adapted from a 448-page novel. While there have been other successful book-to-film adaptations like director Anthony Minghella's Oscar winning adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient, 1 reason why Cold Mountain failed to impress is largely due to the way the characters have been introduced.
Inman, in particular, presented to the readers through his inner persona - his emotions, thoughts, andperceptions. This works in a book, because you can't see a flesh and blood representation, but the same technique, unfortunately, is not only less effective, it's redundant in a movie.
Brilliant as Jude Law may be as an actor, an inner being is difficult to portray. Besides, Law's character seems to be either yearning for Ada, or fighting for his life in the war, leaving little room for any breakthroughs in character development.
Alluring as the cast , may seem, with 8 Golden Globe nominations and 7 Academy Award nominations in all, Cold Mountain's biggest downfall lies in the lack of time to fully develop the story, and what results is a mere lacklustre film with a whole lot of unrealised potential, despite Minghella spending more than 2 years on the project.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars