Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, Renee Zellweger, Brandon Gleason, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Jack White, Donald Sutherland, directed by Anthony Minghellia
An extroadinary epic, that is more of an `odyssey'/'oh brother where art thou' type of picture, than a civil war picture. Jude Law, in a performance that exceeded my expectations of what I thought was possible of him, plays a confederate soldier who deserts and heads home to Cold Mountian, North Carolina at the request of a girl (Kidman) with whom he shared just a single kiss before leaving. The people that Inman (Law) encounter along his trek, shed light onto the cruelty of man when times get tough and the fragility of life. As the film switches back and forth between Imman, and the difficulty back home on the farm for Kidman and her helping hand Ruby, played memorably by Rene Zellwenger, you're taken on an gut-wrenching ride that will have both very bright and dark parts. The score, which combines elements of bluegrass and stirring classical, is exceptional as well. Best film of the year, at least, in my book.