To Hype or Not to Hype

Rating: 10/10 (19 January 2006)

I've now seen this film 4 times, including on opening night in L.A. when the audience was really into it and rose en masse to give it a standing ovation filled with wild applause at the end. When I looked around as the lights came up, there were red eyes and wet faces everywhere.
But now something strange is happening with all the rave reviews and the cascade of awards. The audience seems to be breathless with anticipation and the movie is not delivering what they expect. It's hard to explain. My latest viewing, at a packed Noontime weekday matinée in a medium-sized Southwestern city, was so different from my first experience, primarily because the audience didn't seem to know quite how to react to the film. At the end there was a smattering of applause, but not much emotion behind it. And I didn't see many tears, just a lot of grim faces.
It reminded me of when I saw "American Beauty" a couple of months after it was released. I had heard SO much praise for the film (and Kevin Spacey in particular) that when it was over I sat there thinking, "That's it?" It was really good, but I had a hard time imagining that it would be thought substantial enough to even be considered for the Best Picture Oscar. And then, of course, it and Spacey both won (and were it not for Hilary Swank's first tour de force Oscar performance in "Boy's Don't Cry" then Annette Benning probably would have won also for Best Actress). If I had seen "AB" before the incredible buzz built around it, then I might have been one of the people buzzing the loudest to get people to see "this cool new flick." But as it was, I was mildly disappointed. Too much hype.
While there is no doubting the "heft" of "Brokeback Mountain," I wonder if a lot of moviegoers aren't now reacting with some befuddlement over the mountains of critical praise being heaped upon it. It is such a quiet (yet powerful) film, but I think it is really best appreciated without the huge build up it has gotten. Except, of course, now the cat is out of the bag. So, what to do? I personally cannot wait to own it on DVD so that I can savor each and every moment, frame by frame and line by line.
Which reminds me of another problem: as the film goes into wider release, the projection and sound systems in more and more theatres are likely not to be up to the task. If you stop munching popcorn, pay attention and are lucky enough to see the movie in a theatre with a decent sound system, there isn't any problem deciphering Heath Ledger's strangled delivery of lines (which is dead-on perfect in its portrayal of laconic Western male speech). But the last theatre I saw it in had a terrible sound system and during half the movie audience members were whispering back and forth to each other to repeat bits of dialogue, especially his.
At least Ennis' last line was clearly audible. I've heard MANY people complain elsewhere that they couldn't understand it and had to ask their companions what he actually said, which tells me that some theatres are doing a truly horrible job of showing this film properly. And that's a real shame given the stunning cinematography and the exquisite screen adaptation (every syllable of which demands to be fully heard and appreciated).
Bottom line: it is now tempting to try to restrain my enthusiasm for this film when people ask me about it. I think "Brokeback Mountain" DOES live up to its hype, but I'm also sure that a lot of folks would appreciate it more if their expectations weren't so inflated when they walk into the cinema to see it.