Cold Mountain

A Confederate soldier (Jude Law) leaves the battle lines of the Civil War to journey back to the woman he loves (Nicole Kidman), a woman he only knew for a few moments. Director Anthony Minghella’s adaptation of Charles Frazier’s popular novel, which is essentially a re-telling of The Odyssey set in Civil War times, is an ugly take on one of the ugliest times in America history. The cast turns up big surprises along the way (Natalie Portman and Philip Seymour Hoffman are superb in small roles), with Kidman and Law as stable anchors. Renee Zellweger is a bit much as a frontier woman sent to help Kidman’s city dweller in the running of her newly inherited farm. The film has some slow spots, but when it’s humming, it’s quite good.