The most over rated film of the year

Rating: 4/10 (29 January 2006)

***** May contain spoilers, but I doubt this film could be spoiled *****
Before viewing this movie I was filled with high expectations. Indeed the IMDb message boards are filled with high praise, not just for the movie but for the exceptional acting performance from Heath Ledger. Indeed the first comment on the message on the board tells us that 'Seriously - this film will live with you for a long, long time.'
Seriously, give me a break. This film is dull with a capital D. It dragged on so much that a good half an hour before the end of the film I was praying for the credits to save me. The film starts with the two leads heading towards the title mountain where they shag. They then go back home, realizing that they are cowboys and cowboys shouldn't really be doing that sort of thing. They go home and wed and sleep with women to prove to themselves that it must have been all those sheep that made them do that. Of course it's not because they then start a cycle of going back to the mountain to 'fish' then returning home to carry on with their separate lives. The film pushes the point again and again and again, that these two men were really in love but couldn't really except it themselves and that society itself would condemn them. I got this point in the first half of the film there really was no point to the rest of it and why oh why didn't they just move to San Francisco.
The pace of this film is slow and ponderous. The acting is positively dull. If Heath Ledger gets any awards for this performance then there really is no justice. Check out Sean Penn in the The Assassination of Richard Nixon for a top draw acting performance. Ledger should go back to films like A Knight's Tale, they are more within his scope. Jake Gyllenhaal who has impressed this bear greatly with his performances thus far is reduced to a stare form under a cowboy hat. The best performance was of the grizzly bear that for some strange reason was not mentioned in the credits. His performance should surely merit a best supporting actor nomination? Directed by Ang Lee, this film has a couple of scenes that are pleasing to the eye, but hey they were in the mountains. Even I, a bear, could take pretty pictures in a place of natural beauty. The Director should maybe think now about making the Hulk 2 as this is where his talents lie.
4/10 just for Gyllenhall and the bear.