What is all the hype?

Rating: 5/10 (31 January 2006)

I saw this movie without really expecting much. Having read the short story I thought it might be a challenge to get a two hour ten minute film from it. Boy was I wrong. They added long pauses, beautiful shots of scenery and extended scenes beyond what was necessary and comfortable for some audience members. By comfortable, I mean they got boring. Not as a scene by itself but as a whole. By the end of the movie there were notable coughs, fidgeting and I personally couldn't wait for the film to end. In typical Ang Lee fashion, there is minimal dialogue and the lead character tends to lack any emotion (see Eric Bana in Hulk). The make-up for the aging was a huge flaw as I would have believed this took place over a few weeks and not 20 years if it weren't for the children growing up. Michelle Williams gave a very realistic performance as did Jake Gyllenhall, but Heath Ledger was, I feel due to direction, a let down as his broody character went from mysterious to tedious in a short amount of time. The cinematography was fantastic, but that does not make a great film. It's a nice love story, rather depressing, but nothing out of the ordinary (excepting it is between two cowboys).