A film that fell at the first hurdle

Rating: 6/10 (3 June 2012)

A great high concept: homosexual cowboys in an age and area in which such activities were forbidden and how they come to terms with their love.
But, the build-up to the main players' first sexual encounter was simply not in keeping with how the story had been playing out to that point. There were a few moments when their eyes met, but there was no sense that anything was building up between the two of them. Then: wham, bam, thank you man! After which they both stated that they weren't gay.
The clarity of the diction was appalling (people do watch films outside of the USA!) and if I had been watching this in a cinema I would have missed around 20% of the dialogue. Yes, Ledger's character was withdrawn and quiet but you do need to be able to hear what it going on in order to follow the plot.
In my opinion, a good plot, but sadly, poorly executed.