Cold Mountain

Argh! Why do I continually watch these sappy, sad romantic movies? Cold Mountain falls into the same pace as so many other typical love/loss movies: First, there's love. Then, there's separation. Then, the lovers reunite. Finally, there's eternal separation. The theme arises in so many movies today, it's as if we're addicted to sadness and crying.

So, basically that's the summary of the movie (see previous paragraph), but here are more of the details: the movie is set in the Civil War Era. Ada (Nicole Kidman), a Southern Belle, moves into a sparsely populated mountain community in the North. She immediately develops feelings for Inman, a quiet, rustic man. They have one passionate kiss before he marches off to war.

Inman's troup encounters heavy artillery from the South. He is badly wounded and sent to the enemy's hospital. Luckily, he is able to escape and begins his journey back to his one love, Ada. In the North, Ada is waiting desperately for Inman. She must survive several harsh winters plus the death of her father. She would never have made it if it wasn't for the help of Ruby (Renee Zellweger).

Ada and Inman struggle through many hardships in order to see each other once again. And finally, the time arrives when they reunite. They spend one night in each other's arms. However, the next day, psychotic proponents of the Northern Army come looking for Ruby because she helped an army deserter. In a dramatic shoot-out, Inman is shot. He comes stumbling back to Ada, but dies in her arms.

I had hope that this one would be good. Maybe it would be different from the other tragic love stories. Maybe there would be a happy ending... And, I thought, "Oh, Renee Zelleweger won best supporting actress. She's a good actress; it must be a good movie."

In the end, however, I only felt aggravated at having watched this film. First, being the female that I am, I was forced to have water pour from my eyes despite my strongest intentions to stop such a weak display! What good does this do me? I only end up sad. Also, I feel like I wasted 2.5 hours. The entire movie was about how the lovers were trying to reunite. And once they did, they were immediately separated. What a build up and let down. Couldn't they have had more than one night together?

Overall, this is just another potentially good romantic comedy gone wrong. I give it 1 1/2 potatoes.
1/2