Essentially "The Odyssey" set during the tail end of the American Civil War, jam packed with a bunch of great actors that keep this from becoming too bogged down even if you do feel the length at times.

a truly beautiful hidden gem

Unsung gem of a movie. The regular players give stellar performances and quickies from Philip Seymour Hoffman, Brendan Gleeson, and Ethan Suplee make this story even more engaging. Great writing with some memorable dialogue too:

"They call this war a cloud over the land. But they made the weather and then they stand in the rain and say 'Shit, it's raining!'"
- Ruby Thewes

I really enjoyed this movie. Great cast.

A film with a majestic production and a very high potential that turns out to be disarmingly banal. The morbid story with its pathetic ending seems reminiscent of a Way of the Cross. To make matters worse, one cannot help but feel an inevitable sense of dislike for the main character, a petit bourgeois saved by the grace of the 'poor commoners'. Most of the characters generally appear as caricatures of other performances stolen here and there. Some come close to the ridiculous like Ruby Thewes or Bosie. Excluding the film's set design and some performances by untouchable actors, Hoffman and Gleeson among them, _Cold Mountain_ is basically an inexplicably overrated movie. The vision can end after the first quarter of an hour with the Battle of the Crater, which, contrary to the rest of the film, deserves for its accuracy and impact.

I only made it through 38 minutes. The production of the main war scene was great, but ultimately I find myself not caring about the characters at all. Amazing cast, but I’ll can’t even imagine what is going to fill the next 2 hours that I might skim through one day.