Gay cowboys + Sheep = Great movie. Wait... what?

Rating: 9/10 (3 March 2013)

Brokeback Mountain (2005) :: *********1/2 (9.5/10) :: Director: Ang Lee :: Actors: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal
"Brokeback got us good, don't it?"
***The short version***: If you somehow missed checking this movie out, you're missing a beautifully shot, meticulously acted, and brilliantly written movie about gay cowboys. Just sayin'.
Am I aware that I'm writing this review eight years too late? Yes. Do I care? Not really. I personally feel that if though my review I can either spur someone want to delve deeper into the subtext of this work (Get it? Spur? 'Cause it's a cowboy mov nevermind), or even convince someone who stubbornly insists that this film is nothing more than glorified cowboy porn, then I haven't wasted my time in writing this review. Not like I actually had anything productive to do anyway.
Let's jump right into the action. The acting in this movie is phenomenal. I feel like I'm flogging a semi-comatose horse in expressing that sentiment, because so many critics have wet their pantaloons over how good Heath Ledger and Jake Gel Golthat guy from Source Code are in this movie; but
honestly. They are really are fantastic. Not only do they convey evolution in motivation and age as their characters do, but they carry small subtleties of the previous events of their lives like battle scars. The actors seamlessly work the events that unfold on the screen into their performances. That's pretty damn cool. It makes us (the humble audience) feel like we're watching real people evolve slowly as they go through life (you know, like *real* people do?) instead of events just sliding off characters like water off a greased duck's back. I mean, this movie covers *decades*, and the actors absolutely nail not only their characterizations, but the way events shape said characterizations. Big time kudos to you guys, Heath and Jake.
The film is spellbindingly beautiful. Let me just get that out there. Take the DVD, fast forward to any point without looking and pause. I bet you the Brooklyn Bridge that the scene will be perfectly composed, and powerfully a certain emotion through masterful camera placement and set design alone, the emotion varying depending on what the scene is. EVERY SINGLE SCENE IN THIS MOVIE IS $^#&ING BEAUTIFUL. It really showcases the power of a director who knows what he's doing collaborating with a talented cinematographer team up. The beauty of the film isn't limited to it's wonderful landscapes, or its scenes of the mass of sheep, but the less grandiose scenes as well, such as the one in houses, or the one at the bar, or the one at that one abandoned place by the side of the road they go to or or *sigh*. It's a damn pretty movie. Take my word for it.
Let's move onto the elephant in the room. Yes, this film is about cowboys. Yes, they have sex. But the movie doesn't handle the content like pornography, rather than focusing on the sexual encounters the men have (which are in fact done quite tastefully); it highlights their relationship, how the pair both become addicted to what they know they can't have, and how that desire ultimately destroys both of them. Yeah. This isn't cowboy porn. The movie uses the gay relationship the men have on Brokeback Mountain as a device to show not only the complexity of the characters, but also how the social stigma and strict unwritten limitations of sexual mobility in the rapidly changing era of the 50's, 60's and 70's west destroyed people's lives. This is an interesting contrast to the more classical westerns, like the famous John Ford films, in which cowboys are portrayed as a dying race, and have to combat society to keep to their way of life.
"But James, if you're so gay for this movie (chuckle, chuckle, snort) why did you give it 9.5 out of ten? You haven't said anything bad about it yet!" I'm sure you're saying, and I made that call on two slight imperfections that left just the faintest sour taste in my mouth. I felt that the movie went on for a tad too long. There was a scene that was incredibly powerful that would've made a brilliant ending, but there was another one following it that felt to me to be a little tacked on and didn't really jive with the rest of the story. I have the same gripe with Life of Pi. What's up Ang Lee? Did you skip the day in film school where they taught you how to conclude a great movie? I also felt that Twist and the Anne Hathaway character relationship was a little too forced, I didn't believe Hathaway's character would believe Twist loved her. I don't know. It just momentarily took me out of the movie. These are incredibly small gripes, and arguably the product of personal preference. 9.5 is a great score. Get over it.
Other crap to check out if you liked this and (for some reason) trust my taste: Boys Don't Cry, Death In Venice
Your ever faithful movie reviewer, James MacGowan