Pretty good from Ang Lee and Larry McMurtry

Rating: 8/10 (18 February 2006)

I liked the movie a lot. It could have been between a guy and a girl, heck it could have been between a guy and one of the sheep (there were plenty enough). I like that the story is told sparingly and with restraint. What I've seen of Ang Lee is impressive. He's quite versatile (I've seen his period piece, Sense and Sensibility. I've seen his comedy, Wedding Banquet, I've seen his kung-fu movie, Crouching Tiger and his big-budget movie Hulk, and I've not always liked it, but he's always told it intelligently and a few times, he had the balls to risk trying something. There are a lot I haven't seen, Eat Drink Man Woman, Ride with the Devil and Ice Storm, and from their synopses these are all pretty diverse films too. I love Larry McMurtry, from his early stuff (Hud) to his fertile period (Terms of Endearment, Lonesome Dove, both the movies and the books) and I'm glad he's back. This is his first try at gay anything, and I think he's done it convincingly enough for me, but nobody does cowboy like McMurtry. Yeah, I'd recommend it. Wash the taste of X-3, the Last Stand from your palate.