Rule of Twos: What Wives Know and Allow

Rating: Null/10 (8 January 2006)

Larry McMurtry is a good writer, but a lazy one. So he sticks to one of the most common formulas, the rule of twos. When used well, this compounds. So we start with two people in love, natch. That will split so that we have two pairs, two husbands and wives. The husbands will be where the story happens and the wives where it is watched from.
Then on the other side, you'll need a pair of external watchers. If the two wives are internal watchers, you'll need two almost-wives as external ones: here, the newly betrothed daughter and the almost fianceed girl friend. The center of the thing is the pair of watchers, the wives. Even though all the attention is on the guys, the thing revolves around the two wives.
(At the end, we encounter a third wife who simply echos the deal: what wives see and know, what they allow and what they govern.)
Lee's projects all exploit the rule of twos. It was obvious in the first one I saw, his love/food movie, and every one since. He seeks out scripts structured this way because he knows how to exploit them. Quite apart from the human dynamics, look at how he handles the scenery. A hack will give us full-blown, high octane beauty against which you'll contrast mere humans fighting or flowing.
Hacks like Robert Redford in "River Runs Through It" where we are assaulted by the beauty of the place. Or if you want a western, "Open Range" which not only grinds the scenery into our eyes, but gives us an encyclopedic tour of all the impedimenta of ranching. The worst example I know is "Proof of Life" where the agenda was most obvious: vast openness, claustrophobic confinement.
Look what Ang has done. The mountains are glorious but photographed dully as if seen by someone who grew up there. In fact, when you see the postcards, the difference is obvious: the cards are romantically unreal. He's included all sorts of genuine gear and methods but in no case has he veered off to show: hey look at this article of truth. No, his truth and scope are amplified because they are assumed rather than tutored.
(There's only one place where the power of cinema is fully unleashed. A juxtaposition of fireworks and Ennis when he 'explodes.")
Now, knowing this, and that the thing rests in the two women, look to see the two moments which form the fulcrum of this thing. Most good filmmakers have one scene in mind when they conceive the movie and everything grows from that center. A rule of twos man will have two. One is the moment when Alma first lets her husband go off knowing why.
The more powerful sun around which everything revolves is a scene where Ann Hathaway as Jack's widow recounts his fate. The makeup is extraordinary, worth a dedicated comment. (Teeth.) But watch how many emotions go through her face as she tells the story. We discover what she knew, even what her culpability may be. We discover the existence of her own closet of secrets and rivers we'll never see.
Sure, Ledger is good. But you have to understand how carefully this internal/external no- speaking notion was set up and sustained in every element that surrounds him. Every single element is congruent with this one philosophy. That's what makes this great film-making regardless of what you think of the movie.
Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.