High Expectations Were Met

Rating: 9/10 (21 December 2005)

What to add to such a torrent of comments? I saw it at a neighborhood theater last night and think it's the best movie since 1999's American Beauty. I'm probably a natural audience, being gay and living on the coast, but I'm also open to learning about and appreciating the totally alien cowboy/C&W "lifestyle" and at 50 hardly a sentimental teenager (in fact, I've grown resistant to sentimentality). This film and story is rich for those willing to see it without prejudice. No special effects, nothing was predictable, shocking only because it tells the truth: Love is never easy and often destructive; following your own path in opposition to social norms is dangerous; knowing another person is always difficult and drawn out; and in the end the only thing that matters is that we loved (not "how") and cared. Poverty is uncomfortable and degrading, but survivable by a nourished soul. Talking too much, and too little, puts up a barrier that others can't cross. The only slight negative for me was that some of the editing made me think of Dances With Wolves and Bridges of Madison County -- both wonderful films but to be a "10" something must be totally original. Have I ever known (and loved) an Ennis? You bet. Some guys grow up hardscrabble, fearful, not listened to and unable to trust. Mix in being socially condemned by a shallow culture and the road to redemption is rocky indeed. In a microwave world, Brokeback Mountain is a fully realized emotional feast.