Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Cold Mountain

This is topic Cold Mountain in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Chris Hipp (Member # 1788) on 12-28-2003, 04:43 PM:

In the words of the wedding singer:
"I'm on my knees, pretty pretty please, KILL ME!"

That's what I felt like during this total waste of film.

The biggest disappointment is that it focuses so little on the war and all on this guy trying to get home. There is nothing in the movie that made me care whether or not he got home.

I particularly hated Rene Zelwaggers? character, I jsut didn't buy it at all.

Donald Sutherland made a good performance and I really like Phillip Seymour Hoffman's character, but other than that this movie blows [puke]

Dont even Bother with this one when it comes to DVD!

Posted by Mitchell Cope (Member # 32) on 12-30-2003, 10:15 AM:

I pretty much agree with Chris on this one. It started out good with a lot of promise and went nowhere good. I haven't seen crude hillbilly scenes like this in years. The B&W soft porn industry of the 1960s must have been right on track if this is the way it was in the South. The movie continues to be more and more violent as though people were demonized. If the movie hoped to be a classic in the vein of "Doctor Zhivago" or "Lawrence of Arabia", it failed to make any valid attempt to romanticize the time period or location. I have no interest in seeing this film a second time.

Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 01-01-2004, 11:19 PM:

Saw it in Houston at AMC Meyer Park 16. Picture was acceptable, but sound was barely acceptable with slight distortions in sound noticeable on 4 or 5 occasions when the characters were speaking really loud.

First off, NICOLE KIDMAN IS AWFUL in this movie. Her worst acting ever. Someone explain to me how anyone can justify considering her for best actress. I have liked her in the past, but let's face it - her voiceovers were pure torture on the ears. What an awful accent. She looked distant in many scenes and just walked around like some grade school student acting in some period drama school play. I actually liked Renee myabe because Nicole was so bad. Jude Law is also being overrated. He was just OK. I have seen him in much better roles elswhere. The other actors were fine. Portman was pretty good in her small role.

Parts of it were pretty good and it's not surprising as Minghella does have some skill in directing certain scenes. However, Minghella's lead romantic pair in English Patient was lame compared to the supporting characters. The same applies to Cold Mountain.

While the second half is much better, it is not good enough to compensate for the awful beginning. I really didn't give a crap when they have two characters meet towards the end.

Still, no matter how you analyze this movie, it boils down to this. Kidman is awful. Law is OK. And the movie is just damn COLD in the first forty five minutes or so until Renee shows up. The movie has a couple of good moments with Sutherland in that stretch. That's it. The rest of the first part was pure crap.

So far the only Minghella movie I liked was Talented Mr Ripley which didn't do well box office wise or awards wise.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 01-01-2004, 11:30 PM:

quote:
The B&W soft porn industry of the 1960s must have been right on track if this is the way it was in the South.

Please explain.
I found the movie quite OK, a little slow. I can`t judge the authenticity of the setting and the accents, of course. A lot of the characters were very "simple", but I can`t see anything wrong with that. That`s just the way I would imagine people in remote rural areas anywhere in the past centuries.

Posted by Mitchell Cope (Member # 32) on 01-02-2004, 09:33 AM:

Seems like in the late 60s there were a lot of adult exploitation films, made in B&W, shown mostly in drive-ins, that had a farmer's daughter(s) type theme. Usually these were of the hillbilly type variety of down home folks. Plenty of shotguns and illegal moonshine. That's what this movie reminded me of.

Posted by Hillary Charles (Member # 769) on 01-08-2004, 06:03 PM:

I just saw this on Sunday, and my impression is considerably more favorable.

The Petersburg Crater was dramatized quite vividly, and made the point that there was nothing civil about this war.

I can't vouch for the authenticity of the North Carolina accents, but the hardships of 19th century life, and the toll on the homefront seemed real to me. It provides a good counterpoint to the ideal- and battle-heavy "Gods and Generals" and with better beards.

The allusions to Homer's Odyssey, which from what I understand are even more pronounced in the source book, contributed to the epic feel of Inman's trek across the Blue Ridge mountains.

I didn't have any problems with the casting or performances, but I reserve my highest praise for the music and photography as very evocative, and well done.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 01-10-2004, 09:21 PM:

I will have to agree with Hillary on her positive observations about "COLD MOUNTAIN" after I saw the film this afternoon
with only three other people in a 200 seat auditorium at the Kapolei 16 in theatre #5. The sound was in SRD and was not too dynamic but it sounded good. I loved the photography and well as the music score and original songs from the period. I did not have any problem with the plot or the pace of the film and the theme of the movie held my interest from the beginning to the end. I thought every one in the cast inluding Jude Law, NicoIe Kidman, Ren'ee Zellweger Donald Sutherland ,Natalie Portman and others were all wonderful, I agree with all of the critics who lavished the movie with critical praise and I give this film four out of four stars. Excellent!

-Claude