---
title: "Cold Mountain"
year: 2003
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/cold-mountain"
fi1m_id: "cold-mountain"
imdb_id: "tt0159365"
tmdb_id: 2289
wikidata_id: "Q390097"
fi1m_score: 62
critics_score: 55
critics_reviews: 14
published: "2026-09-27T09:29:19.001421+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-27T09:29:30.618170+00:00"
region: "AR"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Cold Mountain (2003)

Directed by Anthony Minghella · 2h 34m · War, History, Adventure, Romance

## Identity

Cold Mountain

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/cold-mountain
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** cold-mountain
- **IMDb ID:** tt0159365
- **TMDB ID:** 2289
- **Wikidata ID:** Q390097
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0159365/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/2289, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q390097

**Fi1m score: 62** · Critics 55 from 14 reviews

*In a sentence:* Jude Law walks the length of a war to reach a woman he has spoken to for about ten minutes

> Anthony Minghella’s Civil War film is handsomely built and full of good faces met on the road. The love story it is walking towards has hardly been written, and Law and Kidman cannot supply what the script left out; see it for the journey.

## Synopsis

Petersburg, Virginia, 1864. Union engineers blow a mine under the Confederate trenches, and the men who charge into the crater are shot down inside it. Inman (Jude Law) comes through the fight, is wounded, and lies in hospital remembering Cold Mountain, North Carolina, where Ada Monroe (Nicole Kidman) arrived with her preacher father, Reverend Monroe (Donald Sutherland), and where he and she managed a few conversations and one kiss before the men marched out. A letter from Ada asks him to come home. He walks out of the hospital and sets off, a deserter now, while Teague (Ray Winstone) and his Home Guard hunt men like him. On the farm, Ada, who has never worked a day, is left to run the place alone until Ruby Thewes (Renée Zellweger) arrives and takes charge.

## Review

Anthony Minghella, after [*The English Patient*](https://film.one/film/the-english-patient) (1996) and *The Talented Mr Ripley* (1999), turns to Charles Frazier’s novel about a Confederate deserter walking home in the last year of the Civil War. He films it with care and a fine cast, and most of the strangers Inman meets on the road are worth the trip. The trouble is at the end of the road: Inman is walking towards Ada, and when he gets there we still do not know what they see in each other.

The film opens at Petersburg, Virginia, in 1864, and the battle is as good as anything Minghella made. Union sappers set off a mine under the Confederate line; the earth lifts, and the men who charge into the hole find they cannot climb out. John Seale shoots the aftermath in grey dust so thick the flags are the only colour, and Walter Murch cuts from Inman’s face to the pit and back with nothing wasted. We were horrified, by men firing down into a crater full of other men as if into a well, and by the film declining to look away.

Jude Law plays Inman with his mouth shut and his eyes on the ground, and he hands each scene to whoever is opposite him. They are the reason to watch. Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Reverend Veasey is a coward who talks like a bishop and steals every minute. Giovanni Ribisi’s Junior runs a house where the welcome curdles. Eileen Atkins, as Maddy, alone with her goats, makes a few minutes of kindness feel like the first warmth. Natalie Portman’s Sara, a young widow with a baby and a rifle, gives the film its most affecting stretch; it moved us more than anything between the leads, because Minghella lets two frightened people sit in a room and say almost nothing.

Back on the mountain the engine is Renée Zellweger. Ruby Thewes arrives to save Ada’s farm and bites the head off a rooster, and Zellweger plays the whole part at that pitch, loud and squinting. Several critics found it far too much. We found it a relief, because Nicole Kidman’s Ada, a lady who cannot boil an egg, is played with tact and a fading pallor, and the film wakes up every time Ruby shouts at her. Brendan Gleeson is warm and disgraceful as Ruby’s fiddler father, and Ray Winstone’s Teague, leading the Home Guard that hunts deserters, is a steady villain.

Dante Ferretti builds a town of raw timber and an unfinished church, and Ann Roth and Carlo Poggioli dress Ada in silks that give way to somebody else’s boots. Seale shoots the valley in low autumn light that makes every field look like a place worth walking home to, and that is part of the problem: the place is so lovely that the film has to keep sending Teague up the hill to remind us there is a war. Slavery, the thing the war is about, is barely spoken of and mostly seen at the edge of the frame, and a film this long could have found the time.

The romance itself is a handful of flashbacks: a first look across a church, a few sentences at a window, a kiss as the men march out. That is what Inman is walking towards, and Minghella’s screenplay asks it to carry two and a half hours. Law and Kidman are good actors playing people who have barely met, and they play exactly that. Ada’s letters, read in voiceover, do some of the work, and Gabriel Yared’s strings do more, swelling to tell us the yearning is enormous when the scenes have shown us something polite.

*The English Patient* also cut between a wound and a memory, and there the memory was an affair we had watched from first glance to last. Here we return to a courtship that never began. It runs 154 minutes and carries a 15 certificate, and most critics have found it about half as good as it looks; we are a little warmer, for the road and the battle. Watch it for the journey, and do not expect the destination to explain the walk.

*Fi1m score 62, published 27 September 2026.*

## Straight answers

**Is Cold Mountain worth watching?**

*Cold Mountain* is worth watching for the road and the battle, not for the love story, and we scored it 62. Jude Law's walk home through the last year of the Civil War is full of good faces, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Natalie Portman among them, but the romance with Nicole Kidman that he is walking towards has hardly been written.

**How long is Cold Mountain, and what is it rated?**

*Cold Mountain* runs 2h 34m. It is a war and history film.

**Where can I watch Cold Mountain in Argentina?**

*Cold Mountain* is not on any streaming or rental service in Argentina at the moment. It is available in 34 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily.

**How violent or frightening is Cold Mountain, and is it suitable for children?**

*Cold Mountain* carries a 15 certificate in the UK and an R in the US, and it earns them early with the battle at Petersburg, where men fire down into a crater full of other men and the film does not look away. Deserters are hunted and there is violence on the road; it is not for children, and the squeamish should expect a hard opening half hour.

**How does Cold Mountain compare to The English Patient?**

*Cold Mountain* and [*The English Patient*](https://film.one/film/the-english-patient) are both Anthony Minghella films that cut between a wound and a memory, and the earlier film is the better of the two. There the memory is an affair we watch from first glance to last; here it is a courtship that never began. Choose *Cold Mountain* for the journey and its strangers, *The English Patient* for the lovers.

**Is Cold Mountain based on a true story or a book?**

*Cold Mountain* is based on Charles Frazier's novel about a Confederate deserter walking home to North Carolina in the last year of the Civil War; it is not a true story. You do not need to have read the book, though Minghella's screenplay leaves the central romance so thin that readers may find themselves supplying what the film left out.

**What should I watch after Cold Mountain?**

After *Cold Mountain*, try [*The English Patient*](https://film.one/film/the-english-patient) (1996, Fi1m 78): Minghella cutting between wound and memory, and this time the affair is on the screen. Then [*The Piano*](https://film.one/film/the-piano) (1993, Fi1m 88): Another lady put down in rough country with a piano and no idea how to farm; and [*Winter's Bone*](https://film.one/film/winters-bone) (2010, Fi1m 85): A girl holds a hill farm together while the men make trouble; Ruby would approve.

### Reviews we read (14)

- **The AV Club**, Noel Murray (75/100, inferred): Murray sees Cold Mountain as an artful, involving prestige film that is more incisive than its Oscar-bait reputation suggests. He praises Minghella and editor Walter Murch’s rhythmic cutting between the soldier’s journey and the farm’s struggle to survive. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/the-english-patient-cold-mountain-1798171667)
- **Variety**, Todd McCarthy (70/100, inferred): McCarthy finds the adaptation skillful, involving, and handsomely made, though more likely to earn respect than ardent enthusiasm. He especially praises the performances of Renee Zellweger and Nicole Kidman, whose relationship gives the story its strongest positive dynamic. [Read](https://variety.com/2003/film/awards/cold-mountain-4-1200537586/)
- **Empire**, Will Lawrence (65/100, inferred): Lawrence finds the film an overlong, sometimes gratuitous drama that still has enough wonders to win him over. He praises its technical work, spectacular action and richly drawn characters. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/cold-mountain-review/)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Kirk Honeycutt (65/100, inferred): Honeycutt finds the film a somber, sometimes chilly but carefully crafted adaptation that conveys hope amid wartime brutality. He praises the cast, especially Renée Zellweger, and the production team’s vivid recreation of the landscape. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/cold-mountain-review-2003-movie-1153007/)
- **Screen Daily**, Mike Goodridge (64/100, inferred): This is a review of the 2003 film, but the critic’s verdict is not visible. The paywall also hides any specific praise or complaint. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/cold-mountain/4016389.article)
- **The New York Times**, A.O. Scott (64/100, inferred): The page is identifiable as a review of Cold Mountain, but its text is unavailable here. I cannot reliably determine the critic’s verdict or what the review singles out for praise or complaint. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/25/movies/film-reviews-lovers-striving-for-a-reunion-with-a-war-in-the-way.html)
- **Time Out**, TCh (64/100, inferred): The available page metadata identifies this as a review, but provides no critical verdict. Its description focuses on Inman’s arduous journey home to Ada. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/cold-mountain)
- **Radio Times**, Dave Aldridge (3/5): A mixed review says the Jude Law and Nicole Kidman pairing delivers less than its promise. It notes that the novel’s plot keeps the leads apart for long stretches, limiting their on-screen partnership. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-r7l5jg/cold-mountain/)
- **Total Film**, Total Film (3/5): The review calls the film a missed opportunity, with its central romance failing to spark. It praises the vivid supporting performances, especially Brendan Gleeson, as reminders of the novel’s depiction of ordinary people changed by war. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/cold-mountain-review/)
- **Slant Magazine**, Ed Gonzalez (1.5/4): Gonzalez dismisses the film as overwrought and cloying, arguing that its romance trivializes race and war. He praises the encounter between Inman and Sara for evoking the lasting force of love amid wartime separation. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/cold-mountain/)
- **Evening Standard**, Will Self (35/100, inferred): Self finds the film uneven and overlong, with the romance undermined by a lack of chemistry between Kidman and Law. He praises the vivid, grotesque encounters along Inman’s journey and finds Law’s portion the most satisfying. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/jude-and-nicole-chill-out-7437371.html)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (30/100, inferred): Bradshaw finds the romantic drama good-looking but dull, with little spark between its leads. He particularly criticizes Renée Zellweger’s accent and the film’s evasive treatment of slavery. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_review/0,4267,1109716,00.html)
- **The Independent**, Jonathan Romney (30/100, inferred): Romney finds the film ambitious but ultimately artificial and unsatisfying, with its different elements failing to cohere. He praises the opening battle scenes for their urgency and brutal force. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/cold-mountain-84328.html)
- **Eye for Film**, Angus Wolfe Murray (40/100, inferred): The review finds the film overly romanticized and visually over-polished, with an ending that feels like studio interference. It praises Jude Law’s performance and Nicole Kidman’s emotional range, while criticizing Renée Zellweger’s overacting. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/cold-mountain-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray)

## Details

- **Director:** Anthony Minghella
- **Director:** Anthony Minghella
- **Screenplay:** Anthony Minghella
- **Novel:** Charles Frazier
- **Cinematography:** John Seale
- **Editor:** Walter Murch
- **Music:** Gabriel Yared
- **Production design:** Dante Ferretti
- **Costume design:** Carlo Poggioli, Ann Roth
- **Producer:** William Horberg, Sydney Pollack
- **Cast:** Jude Law as Inman; Nicole Kidman as Ada Monroe; Renée Zellweger as Ruby Thewes; Eileen Atkins as Maddy; Brendan Gleeson as Stobrod Thewes; Philip Seymour Hoffman as Reverend Veasey; Natalie Portman as Sara; Giovanni Ribisi as Junior
- **Runtime:** 2h 34m
- **First release (the US):** 24 December 2003
- **Genres:** War, History, Adventure, Romance
- **Also in:** [BAFTA Best Film winners](https://film.one/collections/bafta-best-film.md) (Nominee, 2003); [Golden Globe Best Drama winners](https://film.one/collections/golden-globe-drama.md) (Nominee, 2003)
- **Budget:** $79 million
- **Box office:** $173 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rq7ecfLUtZI

## Where to watch in Argentina

Not streaming, renting or buying in Argentina at the last check.

Also available in: AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CZ, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HR, HU, IE, IN, IT, JP, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Academy Awards 2004: Best Actor (nominated); Best Cinematography (nominated); Best Film Editing (nominated); Best Original Score (nominated); Best Supporting Actress (won)

## If you liked this

- *The English Patient* (1996), Fi1m 78: Minghella cutting between wound and memory, and this time the affair is on the screen. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-english-patient.md)
- *Ride with the Devil* (1999): Ang Lee’s Civil War film, fought in the woods by boys who barely understand it.
- *The Beguiled* (1971): A wounded soldier in a Southern house of women; nobody is walking home from this one.
- *The Piano* (1993), Fi1m 88: Another lady put down in rough country with a piano and no idea how to farm. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-piano.md)
- *Winter's Bone* (2010), Fi1m 85: A girl holds a hill farm together while the men make trouble; Ruby would approve. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/winters-bone.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/cold-mountain