A soldier serving in the American Civil War deserts his post and makes a long journey home to the woman he loves. She faces challenges of her own, as she struggles to run her dead father's farm and stop the cruel leader of the local home guard stealing her land. Anthony Minghella's period drama, starring Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, Renee Zellweger, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Natalie Portman and Donald Sutherland