Brokeback Mountain Movie Review:


In a recent episode of Aaron McGruder's brilliant comic strip, “The Boondocks,” Grandpa Freeman wonders what's playing at the movies. He wants to see "a man's movie," and looking over Huey's shoulder as he checks the paper, Grandpa notices “Brokeback Mountain.” Seeing it's about cowboys, he says, "Well, that sounds very manly! Let's go!" And all Huey can do is give a knowing look to the reader.

The comic perfectly encapsulates the weight of the task execs at Focus Features have set out for themselves: not only to turn “Brokeback Mountain” into an awards contender, but also to find appreciation from mainstream American audiences. I don't envy them. Personally, I think the U.S. is still mostly homophobic enough to shun this film about a love affair between two shepherding cowboys in the '60s and '70s if not outright deride it. Yes, plenty of other gay-themed movies have been made, but they've thrived primarily in arthouses. “Brokeback Mountain” is going for the major cineplexes, with a forthright and honest campaign about its subject matter.

Although I don't envy the folks at Focus Features, I admire them deeply. I can't predict what success their movie will ultimately achieve, but I can say that this film is truly worthy of the attempt. For a while now, America has been comfortable enough with gay characters as long as they were your cheerful friend or neighbor. They can be so funny with their “Will and Grace”-style antics, or they'll come visit you and give you a metrosexual makeover. They'll advise the leading lady about dating, and they'll fire snappy, saucy comebacks at old, disapproving prudes. Or, instead of all that, audiences will take them seriously only if they're dying of AIDS.

Well, not this time. “Brokeback Mountain” tells an honest, straightforward story focusing on the universal theme of forbidden love. Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) don't match limp-wristed stereotypes; they're portrayed as two tough, different men who are living in a time and place (Wyoming for much of the movie, with scenes in Texas later) where their lives would be in danger if the people in their communities found out about their sexual preferences. Ennis understands this and tries every bit to keep that part of him hidden; Jack is a little looser about whom he reveals it to. Their story is a sad and sober one -- after the initial stage of their relationship during a summer sheepherding job, their lives alternate between living a lie and finding chances to breathe only in the sparse moments they are able to meet up again.

Director Ang Lee finds a stable balance between shooting the movie as he might have done with any other tender love story (complete with kissing, sex, and cuddling) and continuing to acknowledge the force that keeps the pair apart. In other words, he doesn't ignore the heavy burden that comes with the stigma of homosexuality, and at the same time he doesn't hit the audience over the head with it. It's just there, and it's understood without much need of mention. “Brokeback Mountain” becomes a movie that's foremost about a love that can never break out of its societal prison. Portraying any affair in this way has proven to be a time-tested, natural path toward empathy by helping us see what's making up the bars of that prison. Those prison bars then become clearer, and we can feel their encroaching, merciless reality.

That might be a long way of saying Lee humanizes the characters and their love. But isn't it sad even to say this in the first place, to acknowledge that homosexuals and their relationships are often denied a frank humanization in mainstream cinema? Nevertheless, this is where we are, and Lee uses all the tools at his disposal to make Ennis and Jack real and understandable. He draws unerring performances from Gyllenhaal and Ledger (Ledger in particular possibly gives the best performance of his career here). He uses the imagery to create an idyllic world of conservative Americana that both characters fit themselves into well. Both eventually marry wives and try to live the "normal" American dream, struggling with a job and kids. Jack gives up the rodeo to start a family and a new career. And when Ennis, at a Fourth of July fireworks show, finds a couple of rowdy types using rude language in front of his family, he does what any red-blooded American would do -- he stands up to them and resorts, when necessary, to force.

Throughout the movie, it's clear incidents such as that one are driven by an underlying smolder of bitter anger. It's the anger of having to deal with all of life's garbage and, on top of that, having to spend much of that life restraining certain natural passions because the world would crucify you if you didn't. It's an anger that the viewer is invited to share, and it couldn't be presented in a more respectable way -- the story doesn't pander, it doesn't manipulate, it trusts its audience to understand the emotions here, to recognize them, and to comprehend the different consequences of the events on both the protagonists and their supporting cast.

But is America ready for this today? When the lovers are Romeo and Juliet, forbidden love is easily identified and accepted. It may take many more decades before the country can see Ennis and Jack in a similar light, and when that time arrives, “Brokeback Mountain” will be recognized for the brave stand that it made in narrower times.

Jeffrey Chen

"Ok gather around, I want to tell you the story of the time I spent on Brokeback Mountain."

Now imagine someone saying that while you are sitting around a campfire and there is nothing but you, the crackling flame and the storyteller. There is nothing in the world but those three things. If you can imagine this then you can begin to grasp what director Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain is all about.

“Brokeback Mountain” is the story of Ennis and Jack, two cowboys (Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal) who spent the summer of 1963 in the deep secluded mountains of Wyoming. The isolation and loneliness takes hold of the two young men and an emotional bond emerges. The bond turns to love and is never forgotten for the rest of their lives.

“Brokeback Mountain” is probably the most honest telling of two gay men falling in love that I have ever seen on film. You can feel the tension, built up emotion and love between these two. The performances are so strong that it transcends that they are both men but just people in love.

I was especially bowled over by the performance of Gyllenhaal who is the more emotional of the two and the one who seems really in love. I thought Gyllenhaal was so much more effective here than in “Jarhead” which seems to be giving him so much acclaim.

Ledger’s performance is very true to that of a cowboy as he is rugged, closed off and often in denial about the affair. Ledger’s performance is one-hundred percent withdrawn so it is sometimes difficult if he has the same emotions as Gyllenhaal and it isn’t until later in the film that we begin to see the love.

The isolation and bleakness of the film is almost a character unto itself as it shadows every angle of the film’s central theme. This film is religious in how it sticks to its central theme. That could be what I liked most about it. So many films these days forget to find a central theme and stick with it.

Aside from these three elements, “Brokeback Mountain” is also a hard film to like because it is so bleak and isolated. On one hand it amplifies what the characters are and what they are doing but on another hand it’s difficult to relate to. This film isn’t for all audiences.

Regardless of that case, Brokeback is a wonderful film to just witness as it showcases how we are all just human beings and how we need companionship in the most dire of circumstances. No matter if we are gay or straight, we all need love.



Dean Kish

This achingly beautiful drama deserves to be a big hit and garner many awards, but the ideas it explores will prevent that from happening. Just as they keep the film from properly opening up its themes.

Ennis and Jack (Ledger and Gyllenhaal) meet in the summer of 1963 when they both herd sheep on Brokeback Mountain in Wyoming. These two are a dying breed, and alone in the mountains they discover a camaraderie that extends into the sleeping bag. But since this is unacceptable back down the mountain, they go their separate ways. Ennis marries his childhood sweetheart (Williams) and has two kids; Jack moves to Texas and marries a rich girl (Hathaway). Four years later, they meet again. "What are we gonna do now?"

As the story continues over nearly two decades, it deepens and resonates in unexpected ways that are raw and revealing. This is an extremely important story, and not just because of the sexuality issue; anyone who has reluctantly fallen in love or been forced into an expected life can identify with this film. As usual, Lee directs with subtle attention to detail, capturing both the awesome grandeur of the scenery and the telling flickers of a character's eye, from small outdoor adventures to heaving internal yearnings.

The actors pour their souls into these roles. All four central cast members have moments of transparency that shake us to the core. Ledger is the standout, with an open-hearted performance that catches us in the back of the throat. His interaction with every other character is what drives the plot forward with relentless force. When he's overcome with longing, it's actually hard to watch.

Where the film stumbles is in the editing, assuming more scenes between Ennis and Jack were filmed. But what's left is only the bare outline of their relationship. We get the introduction, and one moment of true tenderness. Otherwise, they're never together in any meaningful way. We know they can't live without each other only because they talk about it. But there's a nagging sense that, even though this is a thoroughly adult film about giving into a fear of how society will react, that's exactly what the filmmakers have done. Which is both a pity and a shame.

Rich Cline

Site Contents Copyright© The Z Review, unless used with permission.This site has no intention to infringe on the rights of the film owners of Brokeback Mountain and intellectual copyright holders of the movies mentioned herein & hold copyright over the movie, characters, merchandise & storyline.