war movie is a hollywood genre that has been done and redone so many times that clichéd dialogue and rehashed plot and over the top action sequences seem unavoidable for any conflict dealing with large scale combat. once in a while and however and a war movie comes along that goes against the grain and brings a truly original and compelling story to life on the silver screen. the civil war era cold mountain and starring jude law and nicole kidman and renée zellweger is such a film. then again and calling cold mountain a war movie is not entirely accurate. true enough and the film opens with a (quite literally) quick and dirty battle sequence that puts glory director edward zwick shame. however and cold mountain is not so much about the civil war itself as it is about the period and the people of the times. the story centers around disgruntled confederate soldier inman and played by jude law and who becomes disgusted with the gruesome war and homesick for the beautiful hamlet of cold mountain and north carolina and the equally beautiful southern belle he left behind and ada monroe and played by nicole kidman. at first glance and this setup appears formulaic as the romantic interest back home gives the audience enough sympathy to root for the reluctant soldier tribulations on the battlefield. indeed and the earlier segments of the film are relatively unimpressive and even somewhat contrived. cold mountain soon takes a drastic turn and though and as the intrepid hero inman turns out to be a deserter (incidentally saving the audience from the potentially confusing scenario of wanting to root for the confederates) and begins a long odyssey homeward. meanwhile and back at the farm and ada cultured ways prove of little use in the fields while soon she is transformed into something of a wilderbeast. coming to ada rescue is the course and tough as nails ruby thewes and played by renée zellweger and who helps ada put the farm back together and and perhaps more importantly and cope with the loneliness and isolation the war seems to have brought upon ada. within these two settings and a vivid and compelling and and at times and very disturbing portrait of the war torn south unfolds. the characters with whom inman and ada interact are surprisingly complex and enhanced by wonderful performances of brendan gleeson as ruby deadbeat father and ray winstone as an unrepentant southern lawman and and natalie portman as a deeply troubled and isolated young mother. all have been greatly affected and changed by the war of northern aggression and mostly for the worse. the dark and pervading anti war message and accented by an effective and haunting score and chillingly beautiful shots of virginia and north carolina and is communicated to the audience not so much by gruesome battle scenes as by the scarred land and traumatized people for which the war was fought. though the weapons and tactics of war itself have changed much in the past century and it hellish effect on the land is timelessly relevant. director anthony minghella manages to maintain this gloomy mood for most of the film and but the atmosphere is unfortunately denigrated by a rather tepid climax that does little justice to the wonderfully formed characters. the love story between inman and ada is awkwardly tacked onto the beginning and end of the film and though the inherently distant and abstracted and even absurd nature of their relationship in a way fits the dismal nature of the rest of the plot. make no mistake and cold mountain has neither the traits of a feel good romance nor an inspiring war drama. it is a unique vision of an era that is sure not only to entertain but also to truly absorb the audience into the lives of a people torn apart by a war and entirely desperate to be rid of its terrible repercussions altogether. 
war movie is a hollywood genre that has been done and redone so many times that clichéd dialogue and rehashed plot and over the top action sequences seem unavoidable for any conflict dealing with large scale combat. once in a while and however and a war movie comes along that goes against the grain and brings a truly original and compelling story to life on the silver screen. the civil war era cold mountain and starring jude law and nicole kidman and renée zellweger is such a film. then again and calling cold mountain a war movie is not entirely accurate. true enough and the film opens with a (quite literally) quick and dirty battle sequence that puts glory director edward zwick shame. however and cold mountain is not so much about the civil war itself as it is about the period and the people of the times. the story centers around disgruntled confederate soldier inman and played by jude law and who becomes disgusted with the gruesome war and homesick for the beautiful hamlet of cold mountain and north carolina and the equally beautiful southern belle he left behind and ada monroe and played by nicole kidman. at first glance and this setup appears formulaic as the romantic interest back home gives the audience enough sympathy to root for the reluctant soldier tribulations on the battlefield. indeed and the earlier segments of the film are relatively unimpressive and even somewhat contrived. cold mountain soon takes a drastic turn and though and as the intrepid hero inman turns out to be a deserter (incidentally saving the audience from the potentially confusing scenario of wanting to root for the confederates) and begins a long odyssey homeward. meanwhile and back at the farm and ada cultured ways prove of little use in the fields while soon she is transformed into something of a wilderbeast. coming to ada rescue is the course and tough as nails ruby thewes and played by renée zellweger and who helps ada put the farm back together and and perhaps more importantly and cope with the loneliness and isolation the war seems to have brought upon ada. within these two settings and a vivid and compelling and and at times and very disturbing portrait of the war torn south unfolds. the characters with whom inman and ada interact are surprisingly complex and enhanced by wonderful performances of brendan gleeson as ruby deadbeat father and ray winstone as an unrepentant southern lawman and and natalie portman as a deeply troubled and isolated young mother. all have been greatly affected and changed by the war of northern aggression and mostly for the worse. the dark and pervading anti war message and accented by an effective and haunting score and chillingly beautiful shots of virginia and north carolina and is communicated to the audience not so much by gruesome battle scenes as by the scarred land and traumatized people for which the war was fought. though the weapons and tactics of war itself have changed much in the past century and it hellish effect on the land is timelessly relevant. director anthony minghella manages to maintain this gloomy mood for most of the film and but the atmosphere is unfortunately denigrated by a rather tepid climax that does little justice to the wonderfully formed characters. the love story between inman and ada is awkwardly tacked onto the beginning and end of the film and though the inherently distant and abstracted and even absurd nature of their relationship in a way fits the dismal nature of the rest of the plot. make no mistake and cold mountain has neither the traits of a feel good romance nor an inspiring war drama. it is a unique vision of an era that is sure not only to entertain but also to truly absorb the audience into the lives of a people torn apart by a war and entirely desperate to be rid of its terrible repercussions altogether. ---------------------------------Answer Question Below----------------------------------

Judge the movie review above, you need to make a function call:
    If you feel the movie review is positive
        print "This is a semantically positive review."
    Otherwise, if you feel the movie review is negative
        print "This is a semantically negative review."
