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Parents' Guide to

Cold Mountain

By Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Excellent but upsetting, only for older teens.

Movie R 2003 160 minutes
Cold Mountain Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 16+

Based on 3 parent reviews

DuncanDerund
DuncanDerund Adult
August 30, 2014
age 18+

Movie

R for graphic imagery and drinking+sexuality+language and brief crude humor and crude violence and sadness

This title has:

Too much violence
gospelgirlmom
gospelgirlmom Adult
April 9, 2008
age 13+
See all 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Inman (Jude Law), a wounded Confederate soldier, walks away from the hospital to return to his home and to his love, Ada (Nicole Kidman). Ada was raised by her minister father (Donald Sutherland) for a life of refinement and noblesse oblige, is struggling to maintain her father's farm after his death, with the help of Ruby (Renee Zellweger). But the war is getting closer to them. Soldiers from both sides cover the countryside, the Confederates looking for deserters, the Union looking for provisions, both taking whatever they can. Inman walks back to Cold Mountain, encountering an Odyssey-like assortment of characters and adventures, including a minister who is attempting to murder the slave he got pregnant (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a lonely young mother (Natalie Portman), and a man who is less friendly than he seems. Ada is faced with challenges at home as she and Ruby try to work the farm and stay out of the way of the trouble that seems to be coming toward them from every direction. Ruby's estranged father (Brendan Gleeson), now a musician, shows up, and she must decide whether she can trust him.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3 ):
Kids say (5 ):

COLD MOUNTAIN benefits from outstanding performances by the lead actors and a stunning range of first-rate performers in supporting roles, including Portman, Kathy Baker, and Giovanni Ribisi. The terrain of Romania, standing in for the 19th century South, is beautifully evocative, as is the splendid soundtrack, assembled by O Brother Where Art Thou's T-Bone Burnett and featuring traditional works performed by White Stripes' Jack White. But, as often happens in the adaptation of literary works, without the balance of the book's poetic language, the images tend to overwhelm the subtle issues it raises about great and small conflicts.

Kidman's radiant loveliness persuades viewers that a man could develop a lifetime of devotion after one kiss, but it would be easier to believe her experience of hardship and growth if that radiance dimmed just a little now and then. Zellweger brings some spunk to a role that is reduced to a colorful sidekick that is more Andy Devine than Eve Arden. This is a thoughtful, intelligent film with lovely performances and heartbreaking themes, but like its main characters, it has great difficulty reaching the conclusion it aspires to.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how the perspective of this movie, sympathetic to the point of view of the deserter and putting a lot of emphasis on the challenges of the people who were not fighting the battles, differs from many stories set in wartime. What does that say about that era and ours? How does that relate to the description of what happens when the bird eats a seed? Ruby and Ada were both raised by their fathers. Which father prepared his daughter best for what she would have to do? What do each of the people Inman meets on his way home add to the story? If the sky were to fall down tomorrow, what would you want to make sure you said today?

Movie Details

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