Here's a special Sunday roundup of Cold Mountain reviews.

Note these bits, which rock my hobbyhorse:

"The movie was shot largely in the Transylvanian Alps of Romania, where the rural landscape matches what North Carolina would have looked like in the 19th century..." (Thank you, reviewer, but how can you be so sure?)

"It was shot mostly in Romania, because the director didn't think that North Carolina (the actual setting) was photogenic enough." (This sounds a little more truthful.)

And now, for some speed reading film criticisms. Apologies for the excessivly harsh tone to follow.

The bad news is that by trying way too hard to deliver the goods, it winds up being trapped by its own pretentious ambitions. Source

This Civil War romance and anti-war drama is a snoozer that is long, literary and lifeless. Source

Worse than Minghella’s labored romanticism is his own disbelief in the very harlequin conundrum he orchestrates. Profanity alert.

Cold Mountain is so full of hot air, any emotion is blown away - gone, with the wind. Source

Cold Mountain may be marketed as a literary adaptation, but in reality it's an artfully presented chick flick. Source.

… cruel poignancy wins out over satisfaction and fulfillment, leaving us as cold as the wintry ice ... Source

And finally, drumroll please (are you ready, ladies and gentlemen) ...

A solid cast plays the backwoods Southerners extremely well. - Hollywood Reporter