Image copyright © by Marcus Trahan

Cold Mountain

(2003)

Lee and I loved this book so much we both read it twice. So we were a bit nervous about the adaptation … with good reason. Though there is much good about it, it did not really capture the magic of the book. The big reason, for me, was the casting of pretty-boy Jude Law as Inman. I’m beginning to think he’s vastly overrated. Inman should have been more rugged. And why, ferchrissake, cast an Englishman? Nicole Kidman wasn’t quite right, either. And, she’s an Aussie. Then I read that Cate Blanchett was considered for the role, and thought she would have been a lot better. So she’s an Aussie, too. So sue me! Only Renee Zellweger was spot on, and she deserved her Oscar … except Patricia Clarkson was actually better in Pieces of April.