People are voting emotionally.

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Short and Simple Review by WubsTheFadgerFirst off, the film delivers a story that is profoundly powerful and heartbreaking. It shows us the needlessness of The Civil War and how it destroyed innocence and purity. The film shows us the drive and power of love and how it can overcome the greatest of odds. The ending is powerful and touching in so many ways.The acting is amazing. Jude Law delivers a stunning performance as a man who overcomes the greatest of odds. Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger also perform very well. Brendan Gleeson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Giovanni Ribisi, Donald Sutherland, Ray Winstone, Kathy Baker, James Gammon, Charlie Hunnam, Jack White, and Cillian Murphy all add so much to the story and the devastation of the Civil War. Natalie Portman's performance really hit home for me. She plays a woman who has lost everything and just wants hope. She is broken and torn. Her performance was stunning.The pacing is a little slow, but I was completely engaged throughout the entire movie. The runtime is a little overlong.Pros: Powerful and heartbreaking story, touching ending, amazing acting, Jude Law's performance, Natalie Portman and her powerful acting, and a great message about loss, love, and warCons: Some slow pacing and an overlong runtimeOverall Rating: 8.4

Minghella's Cold Mountain is a love story gone wrong. The story was mostly accurate depicting of the impact of the Civil war on the Southerners. The story was written by Charles Frazier- whose great great grandfather, W.P. Inman, fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. During the war, Inman was wounded and brought to a hospital. After he healed, he escaped the prison hospital in Virginia in hopes to return home to Cold Mountain, North Carolina, to reunite with his love. Frazier did not know all the details about his grandfather's journey, but through research, he wrote what he believed Inman's journey would entail as he traveled home. Prior to the war, Ada, one of the main character, has recently moved to Cold Mountain with her father. She doesn't have any friends besides her father, but she briefly meets Inman and they fall in love. However, shortly after Ada's arrival, many men including Inman are overcome with nationalism and join to fight the war. Ada and her father continue to live on the farm until the father dies unexpectedly. Ada now owns his property and the farm; she frees all of her father's slaves but now is struggling to keep the farm alive. Eventually, a neighbor named Ruby comes along to help her with the farm. Ada learns new skills and the farm begins to thrive again. Ada continues to stay loyal to Inman and writes him several letters. However, as the war drags, the more Ada questions their love- after all they had only known each other for a short period of time. She prays for his survival and tries to predict the future by looking in a water well. With the help of two neighbors, she leans back with a mirror to see the water reflection in the mirror. She briefly sees a man coming closer as crows surround him and he falls to the ground. Confused about the message, Ada is unsure if the message means Inman is returning to herMeanwhile, Inman is traveling back home. Throughout his journey, he meets a variety of different people and encounters many challenges. He scavenges food and in some households he is invited for an overnight stay. At one stop in particular he meets a young woman named Sara. She became a widow when her husband joined the war and she is currently raising her young baby alone on a small farm. She lets Inman stay for the night but the presences of a man reminds of her husband and she begins to sob. Without a husband or father, Sara and her baby's life will be impacted forever. The morning after, soldiers come to her farm asking for a runaway soldier (Inman). She declines any knowledge but they search her house and torment her and her baby until Inman appears and kills the soldiers. On several occasions during his trip, Inman meets people that will delay or hurry his voyage; very similar to the epic, The Odyssey. In The Odyssey, Odysseus went far to fight in war which lasted longer than expected. He wants to return home to his wife and let her know he's alive but is faced with many challenges. Odysseus encounters a Cyclops, sea monsters and much more. Inman's story is very similar. Inman is returning home from war to reunite with his love, but his journey was not easy and very time consuming. Some people provided him with supplies, others tagged along on for the trip and others make the journey more difficult. Overall, I think that the attitude about the war is supported well by the variety of people Inman comes across. Each has their own perspective about tolls war brings and each person has a story. Like the hermit goat lady in the forest. She is very kind to Inman without knowing who he is. She heals Inman and sends him on his way with supplies. Although the war changed people, it showed there is still kindness which has been lacking for some time. The movie demonstrates the impacts of the war, not always thought about. More than slave owners were impacted by the war- families lost their males and towns were reduced to mostly women and young children.

This movie expertly illustrates a different point of view than most are likely used to. Politics are largely neglected in this film, as opposed to the exclusively political conflicts depicted in Lincoln and other such films documenting the Civil War Era. Instead,the struggles and tribulations of an average confederate soldier brings the atrocities of the war, and its impact on the entire south into context for viewers. Viewers are able to, in a very emotional way, experience the horror of battle, as well as the effect on all walks of life in the south. The film details several battles between the Union and Confederate forces, all of which are barbaric bloody brawls. It brings to light the desperation of the soldiers to survive, as well as the near-fervor for their own cause. The way in which southern soldiers were shown to fight reflects the honor and the warrior mentality that the south had at the time, which bolstered its efforts against the Union. Historical accuracy seems rather evident. Conflict existed all across the South during this time period, and it seems accurate that there would be Union Soldiers desperate enough to raid entire towns, steal livestock and supplies, and terrorize locals, seeking food. A mother is encountered by Inman, who misses her husband enough that she would lie with him to recall her husband's presence. It is safe to assume that the husband was also drawn away by the war. The conflict affects every person in the country, and this film makes the situation heartfelt, and as evidently volatile and conflict-ridden as it must have been to actually experience it. The choice to steer clear of political dealings, and focus solely on the domestic effects and tolls that the war took, serves this film well, and it engages viewers, as well as drawing them into the time period. One can truly learn about the war, as well as the time period from watching this film.

"English Patient" director Anthony Minghella died before his time. Nevertheless, he made one of the more memorable movies about the American Civil War. Adapting Charles Frazier's first novel, writer & director Minghella depicted aspects of the War Between the States that no other film else has ever detailed. First, this epic length war film unfolds with the disastrous Battle of the Crater at Petersburg in 1864. Late in the war, Union troops tunneled beneath Confederate lines and detonated explosives that they had stockpiled in a mine. Indeed, this constituted a daring maneuver, but the Union didn't take into account the consequences of such a plan and they paid dearly for their audacity. Our sympathetic protagonist, Inman (Jude Law of "Alfie"), is one of many Southern soldiers resting in a trench who got the surprise of their lives. Moments before the explosion, a rabbit tears through their trench and not long afterward the charges ignited and blew up the area. The spectacle of the explosion is truly incredible. Afterward, Union troops poured into the crater as they charged Southern lines, but the rebels trapped them in the crater. "Cold Mountain" not only deals with the battlefront, but also it concerns the home front. After Inman and his friends enthusiastically march off to war, some of the most notorious citizens, led by Teague (Ray Winstone of "Beowulf"), establish a Home Guard. The Home Guard has the right to enter anybody's home if they suspect the occupants are housing deserters, and they may even be able to confiscate the property. Teague and his evil henchman, including Boise (Charlie Hunnam of TV's "Sons of Anarchy"), exploit these opportunities for their monetary gain, too.Aside from these two little seen events, Minghella assembled a strong stellar cast. As Ada Monroe, the refined daughter of the widowed Reverend Monroe (Donald Sutherland of "M.A.S.H."), Nicole Kidman is a young lady who has been raised like an aristocrat in Charleston, South Carolina, and has led an insular life. She doesn't know any practical to do, except play the piano. The Reverend Monroe left Charleston for reasons concerning his declining health. When they arrive in Cold Mountain, Ada meets Inman while his friends and he are erecting Reverend Monroe's church. Ada and Inman mingle now and then, but they never indulge themselves in hugs and kisses until the day that Inman must depart for war. After the opening Petersburg battle, Minghella shifts back and forth between Ada and Inman. Ada's father dies and she struggles to survive on a farm that she knows nothing about until her neighbors send her a laborer, Ruby (Renée Zellweger) who gets everything back in order for Ada and teaches her how to survive. Meantime, Inman leaves a hospital and deserts. He spends most of his time on foot avoiding groups of Home Front horsemen. Along the way, he encounters a hypocritical preacher, Reverend Veasey (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who has impregnated an African-American slave woman and plans to murder her. Inman thwarts the minister's plans and compels him to suffer the wrath of his congregation. Miraculously, Veasey escapes and stumbles across Inman later during his flight. "Cold Mountain" qualifies as first-class from fade-in to fade-out, with a top-notch supporting cast, including Natalie Portman, Jena Malone, Brendan Gleeson, Giovanni Ribisi, Katy Baker, and Lucas Black. No expense appears to have been overlooked by Minghella in this impressive $79-million production that was partially lensed on location in the Carpathian Mountains in Romania. If you consider yourself a Civil War fan, you should enjoy this movie.Interestingly enough, as an afterward of sorts to my comment about the Civil War and this film, historian Gary W. Gallagher cites Minghella from an interview about the director's sentiments about the Civil War and its relevance to "Cold Mountain." Minghella words can be found in Gallagher's book "Causes Won, Lost, & Forgotten: How Hollywood and Popular Art Shape What We Know About The Civil War." Says Minghella, "This film is not a history lesson. It doesn't exist to stand in for a study of a real event. Rather, it tries to cast light on some circumstances which surround any war . . . . If I thought I was making a Civil War film, then I wouldn't have taken this project on."