| Posted by: urbanlegend23 at July 13, 2004, 8:18 am | | Topic: Reviews: Cold Mountain Forum: JoBlo | | COLD MOUNTAIN (2003) THE GOOD: --There are so many good actors in this film. Other than the main three stars – Nicole Kidman, Jude Law and Renee Zellweger – the film is jam-packed with appearances by other respectable celebrities each given an interesting role, usually as an intervening obstacle in Law’s migration or as someone he has to help. Law himself is terrific in his role, his accent tweaked to perfection and his eyes and tone of voice doing a lot of the acting for him. Zellweger is infused with a vibrant energy and given such a joyful and constantly entertaining character – she’s terrific, and completely irresistible. Kidman is less so, her accent is very strained at the beginning of the movie. It gets better and she does have some good scenes (her outburst at Zellweger when the two are making the fence), but Ada isn’t exactly a multi-layered character and there’s still that accent problem. Natalie Portman is very impressive in her small role, and Philip Seymour Hoffman and Brendan Gleeson also get some good parts, as the respective comic relief and juicy villain. --The romance story occurred to me while watching the film as a problem. Ada and Inman don’t get much screen-time together at the beginning of the film, they only just kiss as Inman is leaving for war. However, I realised that this is exactly what made those few scenes together so special. Yes, they hardly know each other, and they had a moment’s kiss, but they had one thousand little moments before that, that led up to that attraction. The little things about people (or almost anything) are what make you so in love with them, and Minghella acknowledges this and therefore Kidman and Law’s chemistry really works. --As Inman makes his way home to his darling Ada, he encounters many obstacles and different sorts of people. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Giovanni Ribisi and Natalie Portman to name but threee. Hoffman is very funny and entertaining as well, Ribisi comes across as good-hearted and then later works in a different context, and Portman is left with the meatiest role out of all of them. She doesn’t have the love of a man and missed it so much, she has a sick baby to look after and is under attack from the Yankees. I absolutely loved Portman and I thought her part in the film was one of, if not the, best scenes. It was so suspenseful and Portman did a truly brilliant job throughout. That scene was just filled with so much feeling – her and Law cradling on the bed, lacking their lovers but going to each other for comfort, and then later Portman screaming helplessly for her baby’s well-being. --I really felt music played a big part in creating the emotions for this film. Gabriel Yared’s beautiful score worked wonderfully in the relentless battle scenes (the opening scene is totally gruesome and puts you right in the moment) and then again during the more romantic parts of the movie. He’s very reliable with his music. There were a couple of very good songs here as well, that were both nominated for Oscars. “You Will Be My Ain True Love” and “Scarlet Tide” both worked well as songs given the circumstances of the Inman/Ada relationship, and both were lovely to listen to. --As Donald Sutherland says in this movie “the view is healing” (something along those lines). That is so true. The cinematography in this movie is absolutely lush and gorgeous with the sunset views and huge pans. The battlefield filming also helps the audience really get into the nitty-gritty of the battles. Costumes, production design and art direction were also all Oscar-worthy. THE BAD: --This isn’t exactly an original movie. We’ve seen this sort of thing around in many epics lately, I’m starting to get sick of them. However, that’s not really an accusation against the film, just something I’ve noticed. This film does offer some new and interesting scenarios for the civil war but if you’re expecting something really unique, “Cold Mountain” shouldn’t be your epic of choice. RATING: 9/10 – Despite not offering much new, Anthony Minghella has crafted a masterwork that is beautiful in both look and heart. IF YOU LIKED THIS MOVIE I RECOMMEND: Dances With Wolves (9/10) Enemy at the Gates (9/10) Far and Away (6/10) The Last Samurai (10/10) Pearl Harbour (7/10) |
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