Bittersweet love story

Rating: 8/10 (31 January 2006)

A great movie set in the sixties that tells the tale of the love that dares not speak its name and joins other movies of this daring calibre, "Victim" made in the actual sixties comes to mind.
Heath Ledger as Ennis Del Mar gives a performance of a lifetime, understated and agonized. One can't help feeling sympathetic for the tortured soul he becomes, denying himself the happiness he can only find with Jack Twist, played by Jake Gyllenhall.
The movie follows the story of the straight lives they create, with wives and children, but always the loss of each other underlines their existence apart, they live for the times they can have their annual fishing holiday together. This is not so much the story of gay love but of love that is denied its full expression, for whatever the reason, and how the subsequent lives led are stunted and incomplete.
Beautifully filmed in Alberta and stellar performances from the cast. 8 out of 10.