Cinema - Cold Mountain (15) (From Warrington Guardian)

Cinema - Cold Mountain (15)

Tabloid scandals left, right and centre, Jude Law must have relished the prospect of getting it away from it all in Eastern Europe.

Buried deep in the heart of the Romanian hinterland seemed to be the ideal place for Law to shelter from the prying eyes of Heat magazine and the paparazzi as his marriage to Sadie Frost went into freefall.

Just as well then that American Civil War epic Cold Mountain sees Law turn in one of the finest performances of his career to date.

Cast as the square-jawed Inman, he reaches the heights only previously seen in his turn as Dickie Greenleaf in The Talented Mr Ripley.

Inman's life in a quiet North Carolina hamlet is thrown upside down by the onset of the north-south struggle, and Nicole Kidman turning up as Ada, the striking daughter of the town pastor.

Before you can say smouldering, Inman is dragged away to war, leaving a dewy-eyed Ada behind.

As if that's not enough for our heroine, she soon learns that her daddy's legacy is about as much use as Robert Maxwell's.

Left alone on the forbidding Black Cove Farm to fend for herself, things get mighty tough for ailing Ada.

All hail then robust Ruby (Rene Zewelleger). With much gusto and honest toil, she helps Ada to restore the farmstead back to its former glory.

On the battlefield, a battered Inman decides to desert from the Confederates and head home.

And this is where much of the dramatic licence of the film catches fire, with the twin struggles of home and life on the road played out.

Perhaps a little overlong and slightly plodding, Cold Mountain further cements Law's reputation as our brightest hope.

7/10 The twin peaks of Kidman and Zewelleger make this a sweeping Gone With The Wind-style potburner for all the family.

Peter Magill