Mr. Black's Grade: A-

Rating: 9/10 (5 October 2005)

Brokeback Mountain (Toronto Film Festival Cut)
Mr. Black's Grade: A-
Directed by Ang Lee , and starring Anna Faris , Anne Hathaway , Heath Ledger , Jake Gyllenhaal , Linda Cardellini , Michelle Williams and Randy Quaid .
While I sat watching the first twenty minutes of Brokeback Mountain I wondered what my reaction would have been to the film had the plot twist had not been spread all over the media. Obviously they feel that this twist will either sell the movie, or maybe do not want some folks to be surprised by the plot? To be honest I was sitting there waiting for the relationship to start.
This is a long, slow moving love story, and I loved how this story arced over many, many years. A friend mentioned to me that the relationship was not explicit enough, but for me the story was all about love and friendship. Their relationship, like all others, is full of questions, confusion, and doubt, expressed by Heath Ledger's understated, moving performance.
Alberta province in Canada acts as the stand-in for Montana, and serves as a beautiful backdrop for an important aspect of the story. The outdoors is where they have sanctuary, and all their fond memories of that first summer back in '63.
It was an honor to have Ang Lee show up and introduce the film. He said that after The Hulk he wasn't sure if he wanted to continue to be a filmmaker. This story, the screenplay and the shooting experience in Alberta has shown him to love making films again.
See Brokeback Mountain for a well told and real love story. See Brokeback Mountain for the Oscar-worthy performance from Heath Ledger. See Brokeback Mountain for the lovely scenery of Alberta. Close your eyes and pretend you are on the side of that Mountain.