Having seen this film again on DVD I can say that I enjoyed the film even more than I did at the cinema. It is atmospheric, beautifully filmed (in a beautiful part of the world) and combines a war film with a love story, with other elements thrown in. It is also important in illustrating just how grim the American Civil War was, at the front or on the 'home front'. Although Rene Zellweger won the most acclaim, I actually think Jude Law steals the acting with his portrayal of a thoroughly honourable 'southern boy' soldier torn between his desire to do his duty to his state and his love (Nicole Kidman). Where light relief is needed the brilliant and versatile Philip Seymour Hoffman provides it as 'the Reverend', not to mention Brendan Gleeson as the musician father to Rene's character - though it is never over-done. On the darker side Ray Winstone and his extremely sinister albino side-kick (Charlie Hunnam) provide the menace. Together with a superb soundtrack I would rate this as a timeless classic to be enjoyed in DVD collections for many years to come.
On an aside for another reviewer, the Southern Confederate States did have Native American allies; the Crater battle did happen and a very small percentage of Southerners owned slaves. Many Northerners did own slaves (including General Grant!) and would be considered racist today - read your history books not your comic books! The film is accurate in the small aspect of the war it shows - even down to the accents - and is based upon a true story. Enjoy - they don't make many films this well.

I don't normally write reviews, but when I saw that Cold Mountain had 1 star and a review that slated it beyond belief I had to write something. Yes, the American South did have slavery, and the North 'eventually' did wish to abolish slavery in the south, but anyone who knows history knows that the majority of men fighting in the southern army were fighting to preserve a way of life and to defend their homes from a great big invading army heading their way. To get a better understand on this watch North & South, which deals with the controversial topic with a remarkable unbiased flare.

The plot of this film resembles that of the Iliad, a man who just wishes to return home after fighting an exhausting war. The film does seem a little empty and hollow in places but its not as a bad as others made out, it did win an Oscar and get another 13 wins and 49 nominations.

In "The English Patient", Anthony Minghella gave us a love story set against the vastness of the Sahara Desert. In "Cold Mountain" he gives us a love story set against the vastness of the American Civil War. Unfortunately lightning doesn't strike twice and what the audience is left with is a rather tedious, episodic affair which squanders the credit earned by Minghella's earlier film.

The film starts well enough with some gritty scenes of a Civil War battle but it very quickly starts to haemorrhage credibility, helped in no small way by being set amongst the Confederate side. Now as everyone knows, the Confederacy were all for slavery, making it something of a problem for the producers as to how to sympathetically depict a load of racists. Their solution is to have a Native American soldier fighting alongside Jude Law but the effect is akin to a line in "Blazing Saddles" in which someone says all are welcome - except the Irish! And Jude Law plays a terribly quiet, sensitive soul (Sadie Frost would probably disagree on this point) who is extremely polite to a group of slaves he comes across, even if he is fighting to keep them that way. In fact, Law's character really starts to grate as the film progresses, to the extent I was thinking "Come back Sam Peckinpah, all is forgiven!" by the time the final confrontation occurs.

Perhaps because the film has a British director, most of the roles are played by non-Americans, none to any great success. Nicole Kidman as a Southern Belle proves as irritating as Law and how Renee Zellweger got an Oscar for a performance with all the subtlety of a volcanic eruption escapes me. Flavour of the month Ray Winstone meanwhile proves that whilst he might have been a great amateur boxer, when it comes to doing accents he invariably loses on points. But if you think his accent is bad, Eileen Atkins suffers a complete knockout with one that at no point lands on American soil!

At close to three hours long, "Cold Mountain" would probably like to describe itself as an epic of endurance and that it undoubtedly is. Unfortunately it's the audience who are suffering.