Like a ton of bricks

Rating: 10/10 (14 December 2005)

I saw Brokeback Mountain for the first of what I hope to be many, many times two days ago, and I don't think a minute has passed since the viewing when the film's brilliance hasn't permeated my thoughts. I find myself scouring the Internet, hoping to find anything that will remind of me of this monumental film.
Reading the user comments, I am struck by how many people feel exactly as I feel  like you have been hit like a ton of bricks and unable to stop thinking about it. I had read the short story several times before seeing the movie and thought knowing the story and its sad ending in advance would brace me for the film version. It did not. Instead, I think I was crying ten times as much because I could not bear for Jack and Ennis to meet their terrible fate.
Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhall are magnificent and if not for them (and the incredible work by Ang Lee), I think this film would have been a massive disappointment. Instead, days later, just thinking of Ennis and Jack's stolen embrace and kiss in broad daylight after being apart for four years is enough to make my heart skip a beat and my stomach lurch. Everything about that scene is perfect  Ennis' giddiness as he waits for Jack, how he skips down the stairs, the genuine embrace that quickly gives way to a clinch and kiss that seems to overpower both of them, their efforts to pull one another away from each other and Ennis' reluctance to do so as evidenced by his subtle but oh so honest hand gestures as he turns away from Jack so they can meet Ennis' wife. I've teared up just sitting here at my desk at work.
Heath Ledger's performance is the most amazing thing I've seen in years. I really just wanted to get onto the screen and hug him. Which reminds me of the effectiveness of the Cassie Cartwright character (which I don't believe was in the short story). Here is this man, Ennis Del Mar, who barely says a word and appears mostly downtrodden and at a dead end in his life. And yet, because of the depth and emotion that Heath Ledger is able to infuse into Ennis, this bubbly, outgoing and beautiful woman is completely in love with him. The magic, of course, is that this doesn't seem implausible. I loved Ennis, too. Judging from the audience, we all did. And his inability to reciprocate that love with anybody but the one person he perceives as forbidden is what renders this story among the most heartbreaking I've ever known.
I don't normally write reviews either, as many others have mentioned, but feel obligated to out of the deep sense of gratitude I have for Ang Lee, Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhall, Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway and, of course, the genius of the original short story and wonderfully adapted screenplay. This film is an instant classic that will be mentioned in the same sentence as all the great ones. Thank you for the bravery and skill that was exerted for our benefit.
P.S. I am already preparing myself for disappointment come Oscar time, but sincerely hope that BBM sweeps all categories. No other movie came close this year.