Brilliant

Rating: 10/10 (22 January 2006)

This incredibly moving film grabs you from the opening scene with a breathtaking panoramic view of the countryside. From that first moment you are drawn into the lonely and hard world of the two lead characters.
The romance is handled deftly and you are left in no doubt right from the start of the all consuming love and friendship that the two men have for each other. To Ennis this is all new and unexpected, he falls in love with Jack the person and not Jack because he is a man. Jack is clearly more aware of his sexuality so he comes to the relationship from a slightly different direction.
The love between the two men and the conflict they face mostly from within themselves is shattering. All they want is to be together but they know that it is impossible despite Jack's best efforts.
Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal give performances that will go down in movie history as two of the best ever in my humble opinion, The supporting cast is both brilliantly cast and performed. The look on Michelle Williams face as reality dawns is one that will haunt me for a very long time. Linda Cardinelli's performance,surprisingly not much mentioned, was deeply moving and as for Jack's father in law, the part was a total gem and the performance was one to match! This movie will stay with me for ever and the 1 minutes silence in the movie theatre that reigned as the credits rolled leaves me to believe that I will be not alone.
I cannot recommend this movie more highly.
This is not a "Gay movie" this is just a simple, painful and very beautiful love story.