brokebackmtn

This film deserves a C. But I'm going to give it a B because they were brave. Bravery should count
for something, right? However, I'm disappointed with the Hollywood hype that has attached itself to
this film simply because it deals with a controversial subject. And, yes, the scenes are heavy and
emotionally charged. But at the end of the film, I didn't really think it was about two gay men dealing
with their feelings in a homophobic society, which is how the film has been marketed. Actually, I was
more interested and impressed with the actual theme... Is it better to have loved and lost than
never to have loved at all?

The story is long and not really motivated by anything other than time. It starts with the two guys
played by Jake Gyllenhall and Heath Ledger (who does an absolutely amazing job and he deserves
his nomination for best actor). They end up stuck together on a mountain for months tending
sheep. There is an obvious attraction right off the bat which I liked, as opposed to the old "we've
got no other options so let's sleep together and never talk about it again" trick. They become
really close, but the summer ends and they go their separate ways. They find wives and have
children and live "normal" lives. Years go by and they run into each other again. The heat is
undeniable and they go at it again. This time, they decide to meet up every once in a while to "go
fishing" and be together. The rest of the film is following their lives together and apart.

From reading my synopsis, you should understand the fatal flaw with this story. There's no conflict.
I'm sorry. Being gay isn't enough of a conflict for me. I understand that it's an emotional conflict that
eats away at them throughout their lives, but I would have been more impressed if there was
something on top of that.

I think my biggest problem with the conflict thing is that the story, as I said before, wasn't really
about a couple of gay guys who can't be together. The stories with the wives are incredibly loaded
and interesting. In fact, my favorite part of the film had nothing to do with their relationship.

Gyllenhall is sitting at the dinner table with his wife (played with shocking maturity by Anne
Hathaway), son, and in-laws. The father-in-law has hated him throughout the whole film and keeps
usurping his role as "man of the house." To play up the stereotype, the father-in-law is doing the
"man's" job of carving the turkey. The son is watching football on TV.

Gyllenhall gets up and turns off the TV saying that he wants him to pay attention to the delicious meal his mother has spent all day making. The father-in-law
sets down the carving knife, walks over, and turns the TV back on saying that real men watch football. Gyllenhall thinks about this, then stands up, goes to the TV
and turns it off. He gives this speech about how he's the man of the house and that the dad is a jerk. Hathaway looks so proud and pleased with Gyllenhall and
the father-in-law sits down, dismissed. Gyllenhall sits at the head of the table for a moment, then stands up and takes over carving the turkey. It's a great scene.

It's simple and the symbolism is obvious, but it makes it seem like the question/point of the movie is to define what a man is. This is interesting to me. Much more
interesting than men falling in love on
the range herding sheep.

The story itself is beautiful. The acting is fantastic. Gyllenhall does an admirable job, but pales to Ledger. Both wives are brilliant and go topless at some
point...which I found a little arbitrary...and
weird (Anne Hathaway was a Disney star!!! And now I've seen her breasts. I'm sorry. It's going to take me a minute to accept that.) Linda Cardellini (Velma from
"Scooby Doo") plays the girl that comes into Ledger's life after his wife and is brilliant and she's only in like two scenes!

So...why were they brave? Well...they don't shy away from the passion of gay love, including showing the first time they have sex almost entirely. Plus, they
introduced something that I never thought of. (This is a slight spoiler so stop reading if you don't want to know...also, this might be a little graphic, but I don't
know how else to talk about it.)

In the relationship, Ledger is the "top" while Gyllenhall is the "bottom". During the course of their lives, Ledger is fine with having his wife and Gyllenhall and no
one else. Gyllenhall has his wife,
Ledger, and a variety of other gay lovers. Does that make Gyllenhall the bigger cheater? I don't think so. At one point, Gyllenhall gets mad at Ledger and talks
about how when Ledger wants it all he has to do is flip his wife over and take it. Gyllenhall can't do that. (I told you I had to get graphic...sorry...I said it as
gracefully as I could.)

Anyway, this is a problem that I've never thought of with a gay couple. That could be ignorant of me, but I was impressed with how easily they explained it to me
and I understood Gyllenhall's point completely.

The movie itself is long, but it's a nice story. I didn't cry, though I did tear up a little when they raise that question of "better to have loved and lost".