A revelation about human love.

Rating: 10/10 (9 February 2006)

They told me this was a movie about gay cowboys. The ads for it read "Love is a force of nature." How confusing, I thought. So I went not knowing what to expect. First thing that struck me was how quiet the audience was....man, what silence. The actors looked pretty tough and rugged, like they always did in westerns. Then came the tent scene ...and right there it hit me with a wallop. Man, I don't think I've been this glued to the screen in years. The first thing I felt was how the West could never be quite the same anymore. The next was my amazement in how they got two such tough guys to portray sensitivity the way they did. The answer had to be director Ang Lee with such an expressive Americana I have not seen since George Stevens' time. What a craftsman. Another answer lies with the two stars. Jake Gyllenhaal and his doe-like eyes filled with devotion. So vulnerable and such human vulnerability. But if a masterful director and a congenial, gifted actor weren't enough - - and these are plenty - - my greatest impression from the movie is Heath Ledger. What a treasure trove of talent! He is simply amazing. A repertoire of voice, walk, gesture, glance, grunting... and he breaks your heart with them. His portrayal of a lovesick cowboy is unforgettable. He just grows and grows on you! Not since James Dean or Monty Clift has there been one like he. Playing a man of few words who handles his quiet moments on screen with sledge- hammer effect. But I'm straying from the story. Because for all their strengths and toughness, life throws them a curve-ball. I wish I could tell you more without giving the movie away. Suffice it to say that one of the men must struggle with his inner demons, a struggle so fraught with pain that it exacts a heavy toll not only on them, but delivers much collateral damage to the women in their lives. They too suffer over some things that are no fault of theirs. But it's the men, Ennis and Jack, who endure the most misery, a misery that cannot even be articulated by either man due to their isolation; neither afford to say the words "I love you" to each other. This happens because these are the rules society has made for them. Cowboys, especially. It's drilled into us from when we're little boys that a man can't have a romantic interest in another man. Even for lonesome drifters.
After witnessing these hardships and struggles most Americans know so little about, I leave the theater and go home, not in the mood to go shopping. I thought of myself as a kid wearing my cowboy hat, holster, and six gun, and how I realize my view of cowboys will be forever changed because of this movie. I even wondered what Randolph Scott, my favorite cowboy star, would feel about Ennis and Jack riding along the Chisolm trail with him? You've come a long way, Randy! Let me finish by telling everyone they have nothing to fear from this movie. They do only if human love is fearful to them. If they forget that love is truly one of nature's forces...and a transcending one. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN is a momentous movie I tell my friends. Especially when viewed more with the heart than with the eyes. It's a pivotal event in American cinema.