[Law and Kidman] share a fatal lack of chemistry together, and it's a flaw this grandly ambitious movie cannot overcome.
Comment
12/25/03
Cold Mountain (2003)
71
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:216
Fresh:154
Rotten:62
Average Rating:6.8/10
Consensus: The well-crafted Cold Mountain has an epic sweep and captures the horror and brutal hardship of war.
Runtime: 2 hrs 35 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Directed by Anthony Minghella (THE ENGLISH PATIENT), this Civil War saga addresses romance, friendship, and the ravages of war--both in the field and on the home front. Far more than a simple love... [More]
Starring: Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renée Zellweger, Donald Sutherland
Director: Anthony Minghella
Reviews for Cold Mountain
141 - 160 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Rises and falls on the strength of its individual sections and, just as crucially, on the judgment of the actors who populate each.
12/25/03
A stunning, if utterly gut-wrenching and heart-breaking Civil War drama.
12/25/03
A towering achievement of style over substance, glorious to look at and powerful to experience.
12/25/03
A beautiful tale, tragic and mournful.
12/25/03
The dazzle doesn't add up to the sustained act of brilliance I'd been expecting. For all its many strengths, the picture ultimately feels like a mild -- and I emphasize mild -- disappointment.
12/25/03
Not that there aren't award-worthy performances here, there are. And not that it isn't good, it is. It's just not THAT good.
12/25/03
Like Frazier, Minghella has artfully wrangled what is essentially a series of allegorical episodes into an emotional experience of cumulative impact.
12/25/03
A Civil War melodrama that never really has the emotional heft -- the oomph, if you will -- that audiences will expect.
12/25/03
So rich with detail that each viewer will discover a scene and a character worth cherishing.
12/24/03
[Minghella] once again has achieved the miracle of transforming a difficult book with an inner narrative into a deeply satisfying film.
12/24/03
Top CriticRemains compelling even at over two-and-a-half hours thanks to great performances from Law, Zellweger and the collection of cameo appearances from the likes of Giovanni Ribisi and Hoffman.
12/24/03
It evokes a backwater of the Civil War with rare beauty, and lights up with an assortment of colorful supporting characters.
12/24/03
Top CriticMinghella, in his long-winded tales of love, has the storytelling prowess of a narcoleptic Ulysses teacher
12/24/03
One of the most intelligent and caring book-to-screen transitions ever made.
12/24/03
Powerful but somehow distant, like a story being told in low tones across a room.
12/24/03
Minghella tries too hard here, carefully placing every element but stupidly forgetting to include any feeling.
12/24/03
...has a level of artistry and heart that I would normally not give Mr. Minghella credit for...a little too long and still feels like something is missing...
12/24/03
An updated version of a romance story. Passion is tempered with practicality, but it exists nonetheless. Women are as pro-active in construction as men are in destruction.
12/24/03
the statuesque Kidman and the diminutive Zellweger make a wonderful team
12/24/03
Latest News for Cold Mountain
March 18, 2008:
Anthony Minghella: A Tomatometer Retrospective
English filmmaker Anthony Minghella had a sparse but critically acclaimed career by the time of his passing today at the age of 54. We turn to the six films Minghella directed,... More...
March 18, 2008:
Anthony Minghella: 1954-2008
Anthony Minghella, the Oscar-winning director of The English Patient, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Cold Mountain, has passed away at the age of 54. More...
December 12, 2007:
Walter Murch on Youth Without Youth: The RT Interview (With Exclusive Photos and Clips!)
This week, Francis Ford Coppola's Youth Without Youth hits theaters in limited release. The tale of a writer who becomes young again after being struck by lightning is a... More...
February 07, 2007:
A searing and haunting period saga with a mournful, universal anti-war lament. 
More...
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