BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

In congratulations of Ang Lee winning his second Oscar for Best Director, he's our director of the month. His films, for the most part are mostly loved or hated, best example is his first Oscar winning film...



Yeah, this is a gay movie but so are other classics like "Dog Day Afternoon","Rocky Horror" and "Philadelphia". I'm not against gay people in anyway (Plus I have a brother who's gay, as well as friends), however, what I am against are stereotypical gay films that don't really bring any light to gays or just make them act and look like weirdos (well with the exception of a few other over the top gay films and characters). I hear good things and bad things from people about this film, so this will probably get a 3/5, however, what's my description and outlook on the film? Is it a strong gay movie about a nice gay relationship or is it just gay? On With The Review...

A ranch-hand named Ennis(Heath Ledger) and a rodeo cowboy named Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal) began herding sheep during the summer on a mountain called Brokeback. At first their quiet towards each other but after a few shots of whiskey on a cold night, they sleep in the same tent and have sex. After that, they developed a close and sexual relationship. As time went by, Ennis got married to his sweetheart Alma (Michelle Williams) and Jack got married to rodeo queen Lureen (Anne Hathaway) and have their own families. However, the two do sneak out behind their wives back and keep their secret relationship.



Now the idea of two cowboys making love, does sound outrageously and over the top gay but to be honest I actually felt for their relationship. I love how it builds in the first half of the movie when they're herding sheep in Brokeback Mountain, to having a secret love affair to having it fall to pieces. It really works and it's all natural and not over the top, like real life relationships. Heath Ledger is outstanding as Ennis (Yes, I know, trying saying that name with a P in front of it). You can feel his emotions and his denial of being gay and while having a gay relationship he still acts straight and cool and it's kind of odd that he will later on be playing the Joker in "The Dark Knight". Jake Gyllenhaal. I'm going to admit this, I do find him a bland actor in many films I see him in but here he's great. He's fun, you can feel his emotions like Ledger and the difference between him and Ledger is, Jake actually shows his attraction for him. The chemistry like I said earlier works and let me tell you these actors are not gay in real life and we see them making out, having sex, sleeping together and going skinny dipping. That takes major balls for two straight actors to do such gay things. Oh and by the way, don't expect to see scenes like that in every single scene, just like the characters relationship it only happens every once and awhile. As for the conclusion to their gay relationship, without giving anything away, I did find it to be very sad and heartbreaking.



Now I'm going to be honest about the supporting cast, I really don't find many of them to memorable or as powerful of our two main stars. Anne Hathaway as Jack's wife is really not a character I was really into nor did I find her performance great or good, it was ok but mostly forgettable. Linda Cardellini as Ennis's second girl, is forgettable. As for Ennis's relationship with his Daughter, it's not really there. Roberta Maxwell and Peter McRobbie as Jack's mother and father are good but at the same time not too memorable. Now Randy Quaid (Who most us remember him as Cousin Eddy from the "Vacation" movies) he's good in this film as the guy who gives our couple their first job together. He doesn't appear too much but he's still enjoyable. Michelle Williams as Ennis's wife is great, and I love how she keeps her emotions inside and the scene with her and Ledger about Jack and him going on fishing trips is really emotional.



The film itself has a great atmosphere. The music's nice, the cinematography is perfect and the films song  "A Love That Will Never Grow Old" performed by Emmylou Harris is beautiful. The film did receive a lot of controversy for many different reasons. Catholic organizations claimed it was "Morally offensive" for it's open portrayal of gay people and even people criticize the film as sexually propagandist. The people who enjoy the film call the haters of this film homophobic. Even critic Gene Shalit got remarked as a homophobic for his review on the film. There's a lot more controversial stories like Animal cruelty and a lawsuit by Randy Quaid but most of controversy is the mixed reactions by the fellow audience. The film has been referenced, spoofed and parodied dozens of times on film, TV and internet videos and even though they're really funny, they don't give the film good publicity and make it look and sound more gay then it already is and already most people who've seen the parodies and not seen the actual film base their opinion on that.    

Overall I think it's a great gay relationship film that not only pushed the envelope to gay relationships on screen but also is one of the many few films that treat itself seriously than as overly gay and stereotypical and I wish to see more gay films be as serious as this film. Don't judge it by the publicity, parody's or the controversy, watch the film and judge it on your own.

RATING 4/5