Absolutely wonderful

Rating: 10/10 (12 December 2005)

This is one of the best movies I've seen in years, and the best this year. The mother of all Oscar buzz clichés. The acting and direction is fine. I have to agree with a lot of the posters on this site.
I saw it with two very long-time friends on December 11. They didn't cry, but I had to break out the hankies. I have been an emotional wreck since watching this, and even read the story in the New Yorker archives.
I want to add a few ideas of my own. (Warning - major spoilers!) There is a lot of religious symbolism. For example, religion suffuses Jake's and Ennis's lives, but they are so uneducated. They don't even know what the Pentecost is. Ennis refuses to go to a church social. The use of a rose ("stem the rose") in the movie is interesting -- liturgical symbolism of penance and joy combined. Jacob's name means Twist -- the actor's first name is a literal translation of his character's last name. Even DelMar -- from the sea -- evokes drowning, perhaps the drowning of Jake in his own blood.
I really started to cry when Ennis started to cry into the shirts in the closet -- closets are for clothes, not people! -- oh I started to sob.
If you haven't seen this, you must go. And read the story.