A true American Love Masterpiece. One of the best of the decade

Rating: Null/10 (20 July 2008)

I saw Brokeback Mountain yesterday, and it left me very emotional...
First off, this is a Masterpiece. It really is. There is no other words to describe it. The screenplay is very well written. If anyone wants to write a very well-done love story, this should be their guide. The screenplay allows us to connect with both Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar. Ang Lee's direction with this film is amazing. I think him as the director made it what it was also. He was not afraid to do a homosexual film like this, and I approve of him for that. He was able to control both Ledger and Gyllenhaal's actions, and actually make them have a lot of chemistry on-screen. This film would not have worked if they didn't have that 'connection'.
The acting in this film is totally ensemble, and they are all great. Heath Ledger as Enis gave the best performance. Probably because every scene he was totally in-character. He has a sort of 'look', a western cowboy accent also. He showed compassion, but confusion at everything happening. He showed sadness, and despair, and anger at his situations. His nomination was very well deserved, and in any other year, he would have won. Jake Gyllenhaal was just as equally great. His character, Jack Twist, had less screen time, and less things to work with, but in great scenes, he really shows his acting abilities. Even though Ledger was also amazing, he sometimes gets overshadowed by him. He showed his eagerness, and in some ways, he was more desperate to be with a man, and his acting helped in that. His later scenes, when he was older, scenes when he was living his life, and when he burst out in the mountain to Enis, surprised me. Michelle Williams gave a very subtle and very in-depth performance. Her pain she had to live with was too much to handle for her, and her acting really surprised me. I never knew she could act that way. Anne Hathaway, gave another effective supporting performance. Her accent I found was very well done, if not a little too showy, but it was her acting was fit her situation better. Just like Gyllenhaal, she also gets overshadowed by Williams. This was definitely her best performance.
The film is also a wonder to look at. The cinematography was simply beautiful. Ang Lee really knew how to direct to capture great scenery. The original music score I found to be very fitting to the tone, and I found it simple yet very effective.
Overall, this is definitely one of the most effective, best-done films of the decade. i find it sort of sad that the Academy would actually give Crash the Best Picture win. I think that, knowing this film now, that has been their biggest mistake of the last 10 years, if not longer. Seeing as what the material is, some people will not want to see it, but there really is no harm to it, and I think this film shows a true love that two unexpected people had. A true beautiful film, a very sad ending, yet fitting ending. A true American Love Classic.