Cold Mountain (2003) 
Tuscan Sun Yang
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I am not sure how I ended up watching this film. I had listened to some of the book on tape several years ago and enjoyed the historical, action flavor. However, I never had much desire to watch Jude Law and Nicole Kidman’s rendition of Inman and Ada. But not only did I watch it, I liked it. Then as I began this review, I saw some interesting comparisons between this film and Under the Tuscan Sun.
Both films focus on a woman torn by love living in a large house in a rural community. Both the TS lady and Ada find solace in their salt-of-the-earth neighbors and the people hired to keep up their new homes. Both women are more intellectual than their communities and both are played by hot hollywood blondes. This could be the beginning of a list for me - Movies About Women Strugging with Their Love Life while Learning to Live in a Big House in a Rural Community. If I just blundered onto two in a row, there have to be more out there right?
I found the film itself to be surprisingly good. Even though I knew everything that was going to happen, I bacame pretty enthralled in the story. I enjoyed both Inman’s trek home and the interplay between Ada and Rudy. Some things were a little out of place, but overall I thought it was well-done. I guess I left it feeling especially good because I had expected it to be fairly ho-hum.
I never saw this one, but the preview looked horrible and was all over the place. I must’ve seen it 10 times. Ugh. This reminds me that I want an Academy Awards for best/worst preview. Some movies have a great preview but leave nothing left for the movie - some have obscure previews that pique your interest but don’t really tell you what’s going to happen - some, like cold mountain, make you feel like you’ve already been subjected to more than enough longing, angst-filled, wide-eyed gazes from the house porch. Then you find out years later that Nate thinks it was a pretty good movie. Go figure.
Comment by poogas — April 28, 2006 @ 11:42 pm