Seems like most the year-end holiday films of 2003 that I have seen are very good ones, yet they are missing some key ingredients that would make them four star excellent films.  And Cold Mountain falls right into this category.  The set production is gorgeous to look at and most of the cast (and I'll get back to this later) is excellent.  However, this is film where the primary theme of the story fails but all the secondary storylines are so interesting that they make watching this film a rewarding experience.

     With a Civil War backdrop, the story of Cold Mountain is told in the film with many flashbacks telling us what has happened already.  Right away, we watch the horrors of the war during a battle with many deaths and with Inman (Jude Law) getting seriously wounded.  After somewhat healing, Inman sneaks away from the hospital in order to find his way home.  We are not sure exactly what is his primary reason to leave his army battalion, whether it is to get back to Ada (Nicole Kidman) or to escape the humanity of the war.  In any case, we do find out in flashbacks that Inman and Ada have met for a nano-second prior to his leaving for the war.

      So, while Inman is trekking home, we find Ada barely able to get by as she doesn't have a clue on how to live in the country without somebody always taking care of her.  Out of the blue arrives the free-spirited Ruby (Renée Zellweger) who makes a deal to teach Ada how to run a farm in exchange for room and board.  Soon, the bad guys are introduced as locals who are out to capture or kill deserters for money.  The head of this bunch is Teague (Ray Winstone) who also has a hidden desire to take Ada's land.  While Ada and Ruby are trying to rebuild the farm, Inman tries to make it home on foot but runs into many characters, some who are out to help him and some who are out to kill him.  He runs into a diverse range of people from a young woman living alone with her baby and a perverse preacher who is also on the run.

      The strength of this film are all the side stories and interesting characters outside the main theme.  Moreso than the central love story, the film is mostly a road film with Inman running into different people and getting involved in many situations on his way home. Philip Seymour Hoffman puts in a very amusing performance as the preacher on the run.  Natalie Portman is terrific in a small role as the young mother trying to survive.  And Renée Zellweger provides the energy that helps keep the movie going.

      The big weakness of the film is easily the tepid romance between Inman and Ada.  The lack of an obvious and real deep love between the two main characters is what keeps this film from being one for the ages.  The most important aspect of the story is supposed to be the love that these two people have and I sat there wondering where is it.  Why do these two people seem to be in love without hardly ever talking or being with each other. This lack of intensity of the romance is a big failure of the film and I don't know why the director and screen-writer didn't let the romance build and become a true and real love.  Doing this would have most certainly made more sense of the motivations of Inmand and Ada.  I can only think back and compare this to the dynamic and believable romance between Scarlett O'hara and Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind.

      And unfortunately, for the first time I felt that Nicole Kidman was miss-cast.  She appeared to be an actress spewing out memorized lines instead of being a engaging character and one that the audience really cares about. Ada is a far cry from Scarlett O'hara.

      Otherwise, Cold Mountain is a gorgeous film to look at and I didn't lose my interest in the film at all.  The story seamlessly moves back and forward to tell what has happened three years prior.  There are lots of interesting characters and the film just has that look of top quality.  If only I believed for one minute that Ada and Inman really had a passion for each other.  Oh well.....