Climb every mountain.....except for this one

Rating: 8/10 (14 January 2006)

"Brokeback Mountain" has finally arrived in the Midwest and I couldn't have been more excited. After having seen it, I couldn't be more disappointed. I had read the short story upon which the film is based and I was curious as to how they were going to be able to expand it into a two and a half hour film. Now mind you, I was not really impressed with the short story, but I figured it was an interesting concept and thought maybe Larry McMurtry and Diane Ossana could flesh out the bare bones story. Unfortunately, they failed. I will be the first to admit that I love a quiet movie that tells it's story through action versus an unnecessary amount of dialogue, but I felt as if I needed more from Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar, more of their relationship, more conversation instead of them frolicking in the fields. I did not feel much of a connection between the two leads and I believe it may have been the actors who are responsible. Something that has always been a point of contention for me in most movies involving a romantic theme is the kissing. Most people in films kiss without passion, as if they are strangers who hardly know each other, a tight lipped smooch is supposed to show me the passion that people feel for each other. Jack and Ennis share quite a few tight lipped kisses and it destroys the feeling of passion they may have been trying to convey. I realize that they were not making an X rated film, but two characters who have been apart for so long who finally see each other would no doubtedly give each other what some of my friends call a "soul kiss." Instead, Jack and Ennis share what a character in "The Wedding Singer" calls "church tongue". Actors nowadays make plenty of money doing the films that they do and I expect that they would completely immerse themselves in a character, throw caution to the wind and kiss like real people do in a moment of pure passion. The acting, other than the kissing, was fine, but nothing I would call Oscar worthy. "Crash" is a much better film and I hope it gets the attention it deserves because "Brokeback Mountain" certainly does not deserve the accolades it is receiving. I hope the adult video world makes their own version, "Bareback Mountain", at least there would be some passion in the kiss.