Heartbreak Ridge: Ledger & Gyllenhaal give Oscar worthy turns in a seemingly radical love story for the ages

Rating: 10/10 (14 December 2005)

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (2005) **** Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway, Randy Quaid, Linda Cardellini, Anna Faris, Scott Michael Campbell, Kate Mara, Cheyenne Hill, Brooklynn Proulx, Graham Beckel, Mary Liboiron, Roberta Maxwell, Peter McRobbie.
Heartbreak Ridge: Ledger & Gyllenhaal give Oscar worthy turns in a seemingly radical love story for the ages.
Rising stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger give Oscar worthy turns in this exceptional adaptation of E. Annie Proulx's short story (screenplay by novelist Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana deserve an Academy nod too) about two cowboys circa 1963 who work together in Wyoming at the titular foundation for a no-nonsense rancher (Quaid) whose sheep need keeping in the summer for the duration. It is here where the loneliness and remoteness sets in for the two young men who bond quickly in more ways than one.
Jack Twist (Gyllenhaal) is a rudderless rodeo cowboy who has no real ambitions to speak of and a family he is keeping at a distance while Ennis Del Mar (Ledger) is more of a quiet spoken, well-mannered cowpoke who wants nothing more than to wed his girlfriend Alma Beers (Williams in an excellent supporting turn) and have a small piece of land to call his own. What both men don't plan on is the rigorous daily rut of the sheep drive and the hazards along the way and on one frigid night share more than a pup tent together. Jack apparently has no qualms about having some rough sex with the inexperienced but hungry for comfort Ennis and the two wind up falling in love yet both claim they are not queer (remember this was before 'gay' was deemed in the popular lexicon as p.c. or not) yet it is undeniable that they cannot even categorize what they really feel for one another.
When the job ends they part ways yet both yearn for one another and after Ennis settles down to a family life with two daughters and Alma he gets a postcard four years later from Jack who has set himself with a wife as well, the beautiful yet bored Lureen Newsome (gorgeous Hathaway also doing some fine work here in a more complex yet unflashy role) in Texas working for her jerk father L.D. (Beckel) selling top of the line farming equipment. When Ennis learns of Jack's impeding visit he is like a schoolgirl learning her boyfriend wants to go steady.
The pair wind up going on several 'fishing' holidays per year for nearly two decades all the while Ennis remaining skittish about the two sharing Jack's dream of them setting up a ranch for themselves (even suggesting fixing up his estranged father's farm) and finding true happiness. Jack cannot fathom why Ennis will not acquiesce and Ennis cannot conceive of becoming a social pariah (even as Alma has remained silent when she discovers his secret) which stems from a childhood incident where his father brought him and his brother to see the result of a horrible gay bashing that has been burned into his memory like a branded mark on a cattle hide.
Directed by the unlikely Ang Lee - who continues to be one of the most versatile and accomplished filmmakers to date - the film is an unapologetic old fashioned love story whose 'gimmick' of it being between two males instead of the traditional boy/girl love affair speaks volumes about forbidden love, life- changing trysts and male bonding to the nth degree.
Ledger is a revelation for his implosive, barely able to express himself through a seemingly clenched jaw in short, barely comprehensible utterances that are more like gut wrenching tics and Gyllenhaal balances his partner with a wildboy who can't wait to be tamed but lives for something more than his lover can provide. Both actors deserve nominations come award season as well as the film on a whole.
Filmed on location in Alberta, Canada and New Mexico the awesome landscapes of nature's background is indeed something to behold taking on mythic spins to what being 'macho' and a cowboy is all about with lovely panoramic camera work by Rodrigo Prieto and the sad quiet score by Gustavo Santaolalla provides subtle variations to the moods of the conflicted couple.
One of the year's best and destined to be a tear-jerking classic.