Brokeback Mountain, it just isn't fair .. .

Rating: 10/10 (8 January 2006)

I give Brokeback Mountain a rating of 10(excellent) even though I don't consider it perfect in every way. The powerful and extremely well written story itself garners most of that rating but it wouldn't deserve the 10 without an incredibly strong cast to deliver it.
In my opinion, Ang Lee & co. did a perfect job of casting the characters. Heath Ledger's portrayal of Enis Del Mar is nothing short of miraculous in his ability to sell his intense, muted pain during every stage of his life. Jake Gyllenhaal got the less demanding character but delivered his performance with equal persuasion. Of the three fantastic female supporting roles, Michelle Williams's brilliant portrayal of Ennis's wife Alma genuinely delivers the full emotional impact of her compromised relationship with Ennis and while all three ladies find their mark, Alma's character is most memorable.
Lee's subtle attention to the intimate details of lifestyle, culture, and the inner emotional complexity of the characters reward every patient viewer with a totally authentic viewing experience. This is particularly poignant during Eniss's emotional visit to Jack's parent's home near the end of the film where he discovers his lost shirt from his days with Jack on Brokeback mountain hanging intertwined within Jack's own shirt, both still blood-stained from a tussle on their last day together, hidden in a corner of that barren closet in that tiny, impoverished bedroom overlooking the desolation of lightning flats, Wyoming. I felt my own soul break for them both.
In the end, the only people who will not come away from Brokeback Mountain genuinely moved will be those who's own personal issues are too uncomfortably close or who have ice in their veins, but those who have most to gain from seeing it will undoubtedly be those who find a piece of their own story in Brokeback Mountain.