a damn good love story

Rating: 10/10 (18 June 2006)

Let me start by saying that I was truly touched by this movie. I went into it with all the preconceived, homophobic notions with which most guys watch this movie, or refuse to watch it as the case may be. But it really surprised me. This is not a movie about homosexuality or gay cowboys eating pudding. This is a movie about love. This movie puts a face on it that not all of us are used to seeing or willing to accept. But it is about love in its truest form, nonetheless.
Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Ennis (Heath Ledger) are two people who happen to find each other and happen to fall in love. But this is in 1963 and their love is not something that society is ready to accept. So, naturally, they deny themselves. They manage to sneak away to see each other two or three times a year over the course of over twenty years. They are never able to fully give themselves to each other. In fact, they both have wives and children.
Ennis seems to play the role of "the man" in this relationship, but it is Jack who is more of a man than Ennis will ever be. Jack comes to terms with his sexuality and wants to take the necessary steps to spend his life with the person he loves. Ennis, on the other hand, "ain't queer" and wants no part of it. Of course, he wishes he could spend his life with Jack but he's more concerned about what people will think. He tells Jack the story of a gay couple in his town when he was a young boy. One of them was murdered and left in a ditch, presumably because he was gay. Ennis is certain that this is what would happen to them if they were open about their relationship.
Eventually, Jack ends up dead. Ennis finds out a while after the fact. He chose not to spend his life with Jack, so no one ever knows that he should be told that he is dead. Jack's wife gives him some story about how he died, but Ennis knows she is lying. He somehow knows that Jack was murdered, much in the same way as the man from his childhood. Ennis is a tragic character that ends up very much alone and very bitter. He thought he made the wise choice in not living with Jack. But his worst fear came true anyway. Now, instead of a lifetime of memories with the person he loves to comfort him, he is left with nothing but regret.
As I said, this movie touched me. This is not about "gays" or "alternative lifestyles" or whatever other label you care to put on it. It's about two people who love each other. If this is not a personification of love that you are comfortable with, then maybe this isn't the movie for you. If you think watching and *gasp* enjoying this movie makes you or anyone else gay, than you would probably be better off watching Die Hard and Barb Wire whilst eating your Texas Double Whopper and reveling in your manliness.