"Love is a force of nature."

Rating: 9/10 (5 January 2006)

As almost anyone who follows films knows, "Brokeback Mountain" is a love story. A gay cowboy love story. And those who follow the movie hype know this one comes with critical acclaim and lots of buzz. So much buzz, in fact, that I decided that I had to see this one in a MOVIE THEATER to see what all the buzz is about. (The last film I actually went to a theater to see was "Batman Begins," so you know how often this happens.)
My fear with films that have a lot of advance buzz is that they cannot possibly live up to the hype. Time after time, I come away disappointed because the film cannot possibly live up to the expectations that have been set for it. I went to "Brokeback Mountain" expecting to be disappointed.
But I wasn't. Not disappointed. Not even slightly let down.
The hype is not really "hype." It's all true. This film is visually beautiful, thematically challenging, and extremely well crafted. Except for homophobes and religious fundamentalists, this film will engage you, challenge you, and ultimately touch your life.
This is a love story, but remember this: not all love stories have happy endings. This love story left me feeling profoundly sad...not because it's a tear jerker, but because it is a brutally honest film. It shows both the romantic and the tragic sides of love. And whether the lovers are two men, two women, or a mixture of both, the message is the same. Love is complicated, and it doesn't matter who the lovers are. When the forces of nature take over, there is nothing we can do to change the outcome.
This film is brutally honest because it coldly shows the consequences of a love that cannot exist. Consequences for the lovers. Consequences for the spouses of those lovers. Consequences for the children of those lovers. And consequences for their parents. All delicately acted, scripted, and executed.
The cowboys have a forbidden love, and they cannot come out of the closet. When Jack Twist suggests that they could get a ranch and live together forever, Ennis Del Mar knows better. His reply:
"If ya can't fix it, Jack, ya gotta stand it."
That about sums it up. Jack can't fix the fact that gay cowboys who come out have a very short life span. The better solution is to deny it, stuff it, hide it. What Ennis doesn't say, but everyone knows, is that if you deny your nature, eventually you will wind up an empty, broken vessel.
It's all here. Stunningly beautiful mountain scenery. The tender love story. The stark reality that cowboys are NOT allowed to be openly gay. The innocent wives and children whose lives are forever changed by Jack and Ennis.
But there's one thing I expected that I didn't find in this film: an agenda. It doesn't glorify homosexuality. It doesn't condemn it. It just shows it, with all the emotional peaks and valleys like in every love story. And it shows the wreckage left along the way.
The acting, including Guyllenhall and Ledger, is first rate. Michelle Williams is wonderful as Alma Del Mar. And Kate Mara as Alma Del Mar has an uncanny resemblance to her screen mother.
Can this film change the world? Probably not. The vast majority of the audience will probably be individuals who are open to improving the status of homosexuals. Very few films change the world. Some do however, change the audience a little bit. This is one of those films.
FINAL RATING: 4.5 Stars (out of 5 possible)
See this one. You'll be glad you did.