It's all good, but could be grittier

Rating: 9/10 (25 December 2005)

I stopped in Chelsea driving from Pittsburgh to Connecticut for Christmas specifically to see this movie. My favorite Ang Lee movie since The Ice Storm (driving by New Canaan, CT 45 minutes after seeing Brokeback Mountain was weird). Anyway, I've read all the negative comments and many of the positive. My two cents: if you need a lot of dialog, you won't like this movie -- I loved it. I do a fair amount of backpacking in remote places -- not saying much is the whole idea. But I'd have liked a bit more of the grit and physical discomfort of back-country life in the camp scenes. I think it might have helped verify the bond Jack and Ennis formed beyond the sex. For me, that sort of unwashed reality made the latest production of Pride & Prejudice (as an example) the most powerful. I have spent days in the wilderness with my life's love -- the moments following passionate sex with him will be the one's I recall on my deathbed. Our subsequent difficulties were not those of Ennis and Jack -- but I can well understand the power and stamina of their passion despite the pressure of "normal" life.