COLD MOUNTAIN — ** 1/2 — Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger, Brendan Gleeson, Ray Winstone, Kathy Baker, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Donald Sutherland; rated R (violence, gore, profanity, nudity, sex, vulgarity, brief drugs, torture, racial epithets); Century Theatres 16; Cinemark 24 at Jordan Landing; Megaplex 12 at the Gateway; Megaplex 17 at Jordan Commons.

Writer-director Anthony Minghella's movies ("The English Patient," "The Talented Mr. Ripley") suffer from what can best be described as a clinical iciness, which makes them harder to embrace than they should be.

That same aloofness is present in Minghella's adaptation of "Cold Mountain," a Civil War melodrama that never really has the emotional heft — the oomph, if you will — that audiences will expect.

Some of that is due to a central romance story line that's not nearly as sweeping or epic as it pretends to be. And the film's leads, Jude Law and Nicole Kidman, are continually undercut by a scene-stealing supporting cast (including Renee Zellweger, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Natalie Portman).

Law stars as Inman, a wounded Confederate soldier who decides to go AWOL and return to his relatively tranquil North Carolina hometown. He also hopes to reunite with his sweetheart, Ada Monroe (Kidman). But his trek is fraught with peril. Not only does he risk being shot as a deserter, there are any number of seemingly friendly types he encounters along the way, almost all of whom hinder his progress.

Meanwhile, back in Cold Mountain, Ada's not having it easy either. Following the death of her beloved father (Donald Sutherland), she's nearly penniless and starving. That is, until she takes in a boarder, Ruby Thewes (Zellweger), who teaches the spoiled Ada to live off the land and become more self-sufficient.

Zellweger and the other "incidental" characters, such as Ruby's father, played by the always solid Brendan Gleeson, are more interesting than the surprisingly bland Inman and Ada. All the flashbacks and flashforwards eventually become tiresome, and the ending doesn't come as much of a surprise, although it probably should.

"Cold Mountain" is rated R for scenes of war violence (shootings, stabbings and explosive mayhem), graphic gore, occasional use of strong profanity and crude sexual slang terms, male and female nudity, a fairly lengthy sex scene, brief drug content (use of an opiate), a scene of torture and use of racial epithets. Running time: 155 minutes.

---

E-mail: jeff@desnews.com