it initial premise be base on the american civil war but it ultimately a love story . we start at the beginning of the war where the main character ( kidman and law ) be obviously aware of each other and there an obvious attraction and they have a passionate kiss on the day he leave for the war . the main thrust of this film be for law character to return to kidman and his struggle to achieve that and her struggle to survive until he return . the reason it fail to convince be that we do not see enough of this relationship before law character leave for battle it difficult to believe the premise that 2 people yearn for each other so much give they have have so little contact . everything else be just about fine and renee zellweger and her incumbent father and his entourage be lovely addition a be the threat from the gang chase deserter . sure it a long film but it do hold the interest and the cinematography be great . an honourable attempt that doesn not quite make it but worth a watch nonetheless .