Finally!

Rating: 10/10 (5 February 2006)

I finally got to see this movie! Had definite plans to travel out-of-town this weekend with hubby to see it, because I didn't think it would ever make it to our little conservative city in Central Illinois, but one of the local theaters finally got it.
It was quite delicious, though it left me aching for more between the guys. Granted, there was not room for a lot of tenderness, because the passion was so bottled up, when it got out it often bordered on violence. My favorite scene(s) were two cuddlesone from love and one from passion and frustration (2nd night in the tent, and the clinch during their last meeting at Brokeback).
I don't think Jack understood the depth of Ennis' love for him, and the suffering it caused him to resist that lovethough Ennis did everything he could to hide it (including from himself).
The women were great. If only Alma could have leveled with Ennis right after she saw him kissing Jack, it might have spared everybody some heartachebut she was just as trapped by ignorance as he wasnot to mention, she loved him and was devastated to find out that he did not feel for her what she felt for him. And more trapped from a cultural standpoint, being a woman in a time when women had very little power.
What did Ennis mean, at the very end of the movie, what he said, "I swear"? I have my idea; I'd like to hear yours. Nice touch that Ennis' light-colored plaid shirt, which was originally inside Jack's denim, showed up in Ennis' "closet" on the outside. Not a continuity error, trust me.
Did Jack's parents know the score? I say mom definitely did and was pretty sympathetic to the situation. Not sure about dad (though he was not nearly so sympathetic, in any case).
I was amused/touched/ vindicated(?) by the amount of surreptitious crying going on in the theater. Granted, mostly women. There was such a load of tissues on the theater floor (and you hardly ever see tissues). I used several, too, but stuffed 'em in my purse.
I cried, but I was not disappointed. The movie was very depressing in its depiction of poverty and intolerance, but it salvaged what is really important, and to me ultimately proved to be satisfying. Though love was not triumphant, it was true in, and to, the end.
If Ennis could live his life over, he would do it differently. He knows what he has lost, and has learned from the experience, paradoxically proving this by deciding to be present at the wedding of a daughter he lovesand damn the torpedoes. Would that he could have done the same for Jack, while there was still time! I am getting the book, for sure, because I could not catch some of the dialog. Will need to see the movie in the theater again, tooand get the DVD.
For the woman who said she wondered if she was weird because two men being loving turned her on, let me say, "If you are weird, you have lots of company!" I have been a fan of male/male relationships for 25 years, since the advent of "slash" fiction in media fandom (which I believe started with the classic Star Trek and K/S). For me, it is not mainly the sex (though that is by no means excluded!); it is the love and resulting vulnerability.
And for you guys who might be thinking, "Crap, my wife wants to see this thing, but why do I want to watch two guys making goo-goo eyes at each other?" If for no other reason, because you are about 100% likely to "get some" afterwards. Love is love is love--and women like to watch it. I am off to grab hubby, and lead him into the bedroom. Wanna show him how great it feels to be able to love the person you love, without societal recrimination! LJS