Music Missteps

Rating: 7/10 (5 March 2006)

I give this film a seven (high for me) just merely for the IDEA of it as well as superb acting moments and the middle finger it extends to the narrow minds of Middle America. However, the music was a big disappointment to me. The time period covered included some amazing country music; especially in the early 70's when social commentary in country music songs by writers like Jimmy Webb, Kris Kristofferson, Tom T. Hall, etc. was the rule rather than the exception. With so many scenes set in honky tonks, the bands and jukeboxes could have featured so many gems that added authenticity and subtly colored the conceit of this film. Perhaps the biggest gaffe was having Steve Earle's "Devil's Right Hand" pour out of a jukebox in 1978 which is AT LEAST 10 years early for that song. The acoustic guitar cues adding atmosphere to the Brokeback Mountain scenes were nice, if not perfunctory. Also, I don't think the word Vietnam was mentioned even once. You could argue that this film was not about Vietnam and to do that would have distracted from the central issue, but to NOT mention it seems to miss an opportunity to harness the irony and anger of the era.