What movies should be like

Rating: 10/10 (7 January 2006)

There are a number of ways in which I could say Brokeback Mountain is not perfect. There could be more development of the characters, even the central characters of Ennis and Jack. At times, the story line gets a bit too predictable and could do equally well in getting across the point with a bit more subtlety.
At the same time, it has a characteristic that I consider crucial to all good movies and one which is rarely present in most American movies. After the movie, fans can discuss and disagree on numerous of the points of the film. Was is depressing or did it provide a message of some hope? Did Ennis waste his life or make the best of it? Was Jake self-centered and hedonistic, or was he just as confused as Ennis, though in a different way? Was it about sex, or did it really have very little to do with sex? Those who know they can't get beyond the gay issue should not bother seeing the film. At the same time, I saw the film in a conservative hotbed (central Pennsylvania, sometimes compared most closely to Alabama or Georgia), and the theater was mostly full and had numerous heterosexual couples. There was not one groan, laugh or snicker at the intimate scenes between Ennis and Jake. That speaks legions about the ability of this movie to tell a tale that most viewers can get something out of.