Worth seeing but highly overrated

Rating: 6/10 (19 February 2006)

Short but sweet review (with a SPOILER in the second asterisked paragraph):
* I didn't buy this love story for one MINUTE. The protagonists' angst-ridden relationship would have been far more believable had this story taken place in, say, the 1940s or '50s rather than the '60s and '70s. All I could think of as I watched these two idiots was, "Get thee to San Fran or NYC!! Hell, even Austin, Texas, would have better than freaking Wyoming and wherever Twist was living in Texas!" Why should I feel sorry for a self-pitying, good-for-nothing character like Ennis who was completely unwilling to even attempt to improve his situation?
* In order for this to work as some kind of epic, tragic love story, one has to find the love between the characters plausible. I had no problem understanding why Ennis would find Jack appealing, but to me, Ledger's character was just a morose, drunken, incoherent, not terribly bright mush mouth, and I could see no reason that Jack would continue chasing and pining after this fool for 20 years. Nor did I find Ennis's grief especially poignant. I was expecting to weep at the end of this, but I was quite unmoved.
* I didn't find the love scenes especially convincing; especially in the second one, which was supposed to be the sensuous, emotionally intense expression of their passion, the actors appeared to be holding back. I think the camera angles and editing were an attempt to compensate for a certain lack of enthusiasm on their part. The scenes between the men and their wives should not have been more explicit than those between the two protagonists.
* I gave the movie a 6 for cinematography and for Jake's acting, which was superb, but there's no way in hell that Heath Ledger should win a Best Actor Oscar. His character was remarkably uninteresting, and his performance one-dimensional. I also found Ang Lee's directing overrated. The movie was far longer than it needed to be, and the pacing was painful. Furthermore, the screenplay was second-rate--the chronology was confusing, and there were too many questions left unanswered.
Unfortunately, I do think this flick will win Best Film at the Oscars--a travesty!