Brokeback Mountain
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
My Rating: 8/10
Did I just give this movie an 8/10 rating? Hmmm, I thought I was going into this review thinking it was a 7. I mean, I don’t understand all the hype. If it wasn’t a gay love story there wouldn’t be much hype. Films with similar ideas of not being able to be with your one true love are out there, just as good and heart felt, but ‘straight’, don’t get this much hype of course. I liked stories like, “Bridges of Madison County”, or “Love Affair” or even “Sixteen Candles”. Okay, the Sixteen Candle thing is a stretch but you know what I mean. ‘Boy can’t be with that one girl he loves’ kinda thing. Anyway, the whole gay thing really propelled Brokeback to a different level. I guess that’s fine. I didn’t buy it at first. If they just played that ONE scene they showed toward the end instead of using it as a flashback I would have felt the passion or emotion a little bit more. They saved it for the end. A wasted opportunity to really nail the relationship earlier in the film. I’m talking about the one scene where Ennis (Heath Ledger) comes up to Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal) and hugs him from behind and tells him he’ll see him at dinner (or was it breakfast). Jack turns around to watch Ennis ride off on his horse back to the mountain and it transitions to present time as Jack watches Ennis DRIVE away from an emotional outburst they just had. It was too late to see that in my honest opinion. Oh well.
Favorite scene: The best performance to me was when Ennis’ wife FINALLY confronts him about Jack. Wow. What a powerful and well performed scene.
