Best Universal Love Story Ever

Rating: 10/10 (21 December 2005)

I am not computer savvy at all, so it is really saying something that I even attempted to register on IMDb, but I just had to say how much I LOVED "Brokeback Mountain." I am a big Ang Lee fan, so I expected to like this movie also, but from the first few notes of the wonderful score I was completely entranced. That a major(American) motion picture would even dare to show a gay male couple (especially a couple of cowboys!) in a loving relationship is very brave. However, what struck me most about this movie is that the story takes the viewer so deep into Ennis and Jack's feelings for each other that the "gay cowboy movie" reference becomes not just overly simplistic but unnecessary. This is the most universal love story I have ever seen, describing the love that Ennis and Jack have for each other, but even more importantly a love that any two people could have, and would be lucky if they did come across it in a lifetime. Even though I've seen this film twice in three days it isn't nearly enough. I'm dying to go out and buy the soundtrack, something I almost never do, and I know I'm going to cry through every one of the songs. The first time I saw the movie I was struck equally by the beauty and pain of the story. Heath Ledger, an actor I hadn't even heard of before this film, so completely becomes Ennis that it is scary. Gyllenhal and Williams are also wonderful and Jack and Ennis's wife, respectively. The second time I watched this film I noticed little things I hadn't dwelled on the first time, the most noticeable being when Ennis folds his grown daughter's sweater and then carefully does the same with the cowboy shirt. For a tough cowboy, who alternately roughhouses and is tender with both Jack and his daughters, Ennis is a complex, loving, and emotionally beaten down character. I think a lot of that has to do with his father's (and society's) views on what a "real man" is. My favorite scenes at both viewings was the way that Ennis's behavior changes when he sees Jack, as he becomes a hopeful, happy human being, even if it is temporary, lasting only as long as his visits with Jack. I don't think this next comment will need a *SPOILER ALERT*, but just in case, I added one. The most telling moment of how much Ennis loves Jack is when they see each other after four years apart, and Ennis waits like a schoolgirl with a crush. I can't wait for this movie to come out on DVD; I don't know how many showings I can afford!