Review of Cold Mountain (2003) by Michael Y — 25 Feb 2011

Cold Mountain is an American Civil War romance made quite differently than others of it's kind. With a surprising all star cast than just keeps on coming, if you like your romances very bleak and depressing, you'll love this movie.

As the war between the Yankees and Confederates begins, young men from all over the South are recruted. In the small mountain town of Cold Mountain, a farming man and a rich woman, who barely know eachother, fall in love right before the war starts. They write letters to eachother, but after 3 years of fighting, the man deserts his troops and tries to go home. But the problem is, deserters are traitors, and he'll get his ass killed if he's caught. This is a kind of uneven drama that flipflops between being a war drama, romance, and comedy. These element together are good, but at times it looses sight of the romance between the two characters. It's an interesting period piece and at times very grousome, but these series of grousome and struggling events aren't always intriguing.

As far as the production value and look of the movie goes, it's absolutely brilliant. The amount of detail to the sets and the look of the times are incredable and top notch. And it's look is very authentic and original in it's style, it's very cool to see a movie set it such remote areas under the winter seasons. The cinematography is very impressive, and the direction captures many moments very powerfully. The movie's music score even has an all star cast, with Sting preforming the song and Elvis Costello doing the music. All this combines to make a great looking depressing drama.

Theoretically Cold Mountain is a wonderful movie. But at times the mood of the movie is uneven. The drama is very melodramatic, but completely changes with smooth, yet appropriate comedy. This is a movie that deserves more credit, but it's just not the most compelling romance story. But giving the mile-long list of star actors that pop out of nowhere, and some pretty dramatic and violent moments, Cold Mountain is a movie that's really up to you, but I highly recommend watching it.