Review: Brokeback Mountain

I finally saw Brokeback Mountain and I can see why the conservatives and other homophobes hated it or refused to see it at all. It was a slightly slow movie, but interesting throughout. I found it interesting that there wasn't even a kiss before the first (ahem) love scene. That struck me as just plain weird. Every love scene in every other movie has the two in question lip-locked as they tear each other apart.

One has to admit that it took a bit of acting ability to pull the two main roles off. I mean - I'm no homophobe (nor am I homosexual), but it would be tough for me to make it look genuine while kissing another man, caressing him as if he were my wife. That's probably because I'm a geek, not an actor. Props to them.

And I honestly forgot that Heath Ledger is Australian and has an obvious natural accent. He did a magnificent job with the speech for his part. Jake Gyllenhall didn't have to change too much to play Jack Twist (he looks funny with a mustache), but he did a great job. I always thought for some reason that he is older than I am, but he's actually younger than my wife is. For someone to pull off this type of role at age 25 is just fantastic.

Even though most of the filming took place in Alberta, I could still believe it was Wyoming. The scenery in this film was a catalyst for my desire to move back out to the West.

The story - I don't know what to say about the "love story" aspect of it. It has certainly attracted a lot of attention, hasn't it? The controversy is what made me want to watch it even more. It's the same reason I just had to read The Da Vinci Code. Minus the homosexuality, Brokeback Mountain was like any story and could have even been about two women, filled with unabashed emotion and tenacious love. I think there's more than one real story of a 20-year extramarital affair out there. Some things are just irresistible; it's part of being human.

All in all, I think the movie was good. However, I'm going to buy Anne Proulx's book that includes this short story so that I may read the actual