Brokeback Mountain

As a conservative Christian I believe that homosexuality is a sin. Therefore, the fact that this film, perhaps admirably, attempts to portray it as "normal", may inherently lessen my admiration for it. However, that having been said, I will attempt to ignore that fact for the moment and describe its merits as a love story. Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist both get hired as sheep herders in Wyoming for a summer. During that time, they develop feelings for each other and spend the rest of their lives in secrecy, only on occasion able to rekindle their passion. After the summer, they both marry and have families -- loving families. But it becomes increasingly obvious who their hearts truly belong to. The first thing one might notice in Ang Lee's drama is the almost Fordian imagery juxtaposing the epic, well composed long shot of the landscape with close ups. Actually, as beautiful as many of these shots are, they become almost a parody of Ford because it seems to be attempting to bring out the archetypes of Western imagery, whereas Ford rarely worked with archetypes (maybe in his early days), he created and made the land an inescapable character of his films, a feat Brokeback Mountain never fully accomplishes. Heath Ledger as Ennis gives career defining performance because of what he doesn't say. Jake Gyllenhaal is somewhat less effective because his character is based on what he does say. To be honest, I found myself most moved by some of the secondary relationships, particularly the relationship between Ledger and Michelle Williams as his wife. She knows he is going behind her back, and moreover she knows that it is with a man. The straight people are not stereotyped, nor even particularly bigoted. I also found myself moved by the relationship between Ledger and his older daughter, particularly in later scenes. While I admire Lee as a director, I think that many of the strengths of the film belong to the performances and particularly the script by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, which manages to be human, subtle, and cinematically intelligent while avoiding many of the cliches that I was dreading going in. Roger Ebert observes the point that I was initially trying to put my finger on when he says, "The movie wisely never steps back to look at the larger picture, or deliver the 'message.' It is specifically the story of these men, this love. It stays in closeup. That's how Jack and Ennis see it. 'You know I ain't queer,' Ennis tells Jack after their first night together. 'Me, neither,' says Jack." It's a good film, probably one of the best of the year. It's a wise film that avoids being more morally troubling than it needs to be (considering the subject matter). And if you have an open mind and heart for star crossed love stories, this may be for you.