Cold Mountain

Based on the hugely acclaimed novel by Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain is a sweeping epic, directed with customary grace and guile by Anthony Minghella. Set in the final days of the American Civil War, the story follows a wounded soldier Inman (a downbeat but effective Law) who receives a letter from his sweetheart, Ada Monroe (Kidman) begging him to return to the life that he left behind in their eponymous home town. Wounded but determined, Inman sets off on a perilous journey to his home of Cold Mountain to be reunited with the woman he loves, and along the way encounters all manner of strange folk, while his beloved has problems of her own, tending to her lands.

As sweeping and grandiose as The English Patient, Cold Mountain is a handsome, old fashioned picture with its heart in another era. Although it moves with a stately composure for the majority of its 160 minutes, Cold Mountain has a tendency to episodically drift occasionally. The splendid production value somewhat tempers this inclination, as does the powerful acting, especially the performance of the leading trio - Law echoing a heroic but understated sensibility, Kidman's porcelain beauty shines from the screen, while Zellweger's earthy performance ranks amongst her best work. Stick a fiver on her to finally win an Oscar.