Brokeback Mountain Review

The verdict is in... Brokeback Mountain is not just a gay cowboy movie.  It is a powerful and passionate tale of forbidden love. Directed by Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Brokeback Mountain is captivating, moving, and truly a tremendous masterpiece. Based on a short story by Annie Proulx, Brokeback Mountain is set against the breathtaking Wyoming Mountains (filmed in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta) in the early 1960's.

Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) first meet while working together as sheepherders on Brokeback Mountain.  They barely speak and spend most of their days and nights on separate mountains, tending to the sheep.  One night, after drinking heavily and sharing bits of their pasts, Ennis decides to sleep by the fire instead of heading back to his tent on the other mountain, while Jack goes to sleep in his tent.  In the middle of the night, after the fire died out, Jack hears Ennis shivering in the cold mountain air.  He tells Ennis to come and sleep in the tent... and that's where it begins; the romantic and passionate journey that will sustain the next twenty years. What began as a kind gesture developed into a frantic, almost angry sexual encounter that each man was eager to forget in the light of day.  Yet neither could.

After their short gig on Brokeback Mountain, Ennis and Jack go their separate ways.  Ennis goes on to marry his fiancée, Alma (Michelle Williams), and to have two daughters.  Jack moves to Texas and marries Lureen Newsome (Anne Hathaway), the daughter of a wealthy businessman, and has a son. While they pursue different careers, marry, and have children, both men still struggle to come to terms with their feelings for one another.

After four long years apart, Ennis receives a postcard from Jack.  You can see the happiness and longing in Ennis's face as he agrees to meet Jack again.  When Jack finally arrives at Ennis's home, they can't contain themselves.  Ennis pulls Jack into the stairwell and kisses him with every bit of love and passion imaginable.  They eventually begin escaping to Brokeback Mountain together under the guise of fishing trips.  These trips only occur a few times per year and are certainly not enough to quench either man's thirst for love and affection.  Yet and still, Ennis refuses to live a secluded life as a "queer" in the mountains.

The thought of coming out with their relationship is not an option for Ennis, and for good reason.  When he was a young boy, his father brought him to see the body of a man who was beaten to death for living with another man.  Ennis even has suspicions that it was his father that did it.

Ironically, Ennis ends up divorced and living a secluded life on a ranch instead.  Neither man ever realizes the full happiness or fulfillment that comes with living life with the one you love.  Eventually, the sad lesson is learned that life is too short and when you find love, you must hold on to it dearly no matter what shape, form, or in this case, sex, it may come in.

This review cannot be written without mentioning the cast.  It is unfortunate for Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Williams that Heath Ledger was cast in this film. Ledger's transformation into Ennis Del Mar is seamless leaving the tremendous talent of Gyllenhaal and Williams overshadowed by his superb performance.  Ledger truly showcased his talents and is one of the most gifted actors of his generation.

Gyllenhaal shines, giving the performance of his career.  He brings the audience on an emotional rollercoaster ride as Jake struggles to understand the complicated man he fell in love with.  His ability to wear his heart on his sleeve and have emotional breakdowns without seeming the slightest bit feminine is breathtaking.

Michelle Williams captures your heart from the moment she steps on screen.  She portrays a broken woman that knows her husband's secret but tries to keep her family together in spite of it.  You feel her pain, understand her pity, and ultimately envy her unyielding love for her husband.

The remarkable aspect of this movie is that it takes the basic human emotion of love and, for the first time in a movie of this magnitude, truly unveils how naturally it extends to gay couples.  People tend to focus on the sexual side of gay partnerships and forget the essence of it - love.

In the viewers mind, Ennis and Jack are a struggling couple first and a gay couple second.  You see only the hurt and pain these men feel because they cannot be together and begin to hope for their happiness.  You are so enthralled in the heart-wrenching goodbyes and heartfelt embraces shared by these men that you pray for their ability to love and be loved freely.  Brokeback Mountain is a testament to how we must follow our hearts at all costs.