Brokeback Mountain
Reel Critic Grade: A-
Running Time: 134 minutes
Rated: R

The heart of Brokeback Mountain is a story of forbidden love, not unlike Romeo and Juliet or Westside Story. It has all the longing, passion, fleeting joy, and tragedy of a classic tale of two lovers who risk it all to be together. The only difference here, and it's a significant one, is these lovers are both men. And not just any men, but rough, tough, real-deal cowboys. Picture John Wayne kissing the Marlboro Man.

The film tells the story of Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger), two young cowboys barely getting by. Their cowhide-tough exteriors conceal a greater pain underneath. Jack is a rodeoer who can't quite live up to the image he has in his mind. He's the more put together of the two, which is like comparing two fences that need mending; they're both broke, one is just more broke than the other. Ennis has battled life from an early age and life seems to have the upper hand. He looks as if he wants to slip further into his duster to hide from whatever is in front of him.

The two meet in the summer of 1963 when hired by hard-ass rancher Joe Aguire (Randy Quaid) to look after his sheep on Wyoming's Brokeback Mountain. It's during their time on Brokeback that Jack and Ennis discover feelings for each other and have, what amounts to, angry, frustrated, confused sex for the first time. The morning after, Ennis says, "I ain't queer." And Jack replies, "Me neither." The truth is they aren't sure, but in an early 60's rural setting where gay men end up dead, it's better to be on the safe side.

Jack and Ennis say little as they part ways at the end of that summer. But, as Jack utters later in the film, "That Brokeback got us good." and even though each tries to fit the role society wants them to play with wives, kids, and jobs, the pull of their love is a constant that can't be ignored. After four years apart, Jack drives from Texas to Wyoming for a fishing trip with Ennis, who can barely stand the anticipation. Their passionate, kissing embrace is mistakenly witnessed by Ennis's wife, Alma (Michelle Williams), who finally understands why her marriage is more go-through-the-motions than love.

The fishing trips become semi-annual excursions and their only venue to act on the feelings they secretly share (Heterosexual men everywhere are scrambling to find a new phrase to describe an outing to try and catch fish; because the classic, "gone fishing", has taken on a whole new meaning). Jack dreams of giving up their false lives and living together on a ranch. But Ennis, still unsure of himself and more practical than Jack, knows the peril it would put them in. Their love is doomed to tragedy as Jack takes more and more risks trying to satisfy his longing and fill the void of Ennis's unwillingness to follow his heart.

The film is based on a short story by E. Annie Proulx which ran in the New Yorker in 1997. Western novelist and screenwriter Larry McMurtry and writing pal Diana Ossana read the short and immediately wrote Proulx to option the screen rights. For years the script was known as the best unproduced script making the rounds in tinsel town. Hollywood, however, wasn't sure the public was ready for the subject matter. But, like many controversial films, the script finally found a champion and was produced. The strength of the script lies in the characters and the subtext.

McMurtry and Ossana took great pains in crafting living, breathing individuals who act and react based on who they are and what they've experienced. The nuances of body language and what is left unsaid is powerful. The weakness of the script is the episodic nature of the fishing trips. More or less, the same scenes (with increasingly awful aging makeup) play out over and over with little variation in the outcome. It only takes one or two trips for us to understand their joy in spending time together and their frustration that it will never be more.

The acting in Brokeback is award worthy; as evidenced by Academy nominations for Best Actor, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress. Ledger and Gyllenhaal tackle extremely challenging roles and come away with the best performances of their careers. Ennis is a character with more to play and therefore a meatier roll, which Ledger nails. And Gyllenhaal's portrayal of Jack is just as skilled. Not to be outdone, the woman of Brokeback put in stellar performances as well. Michelle Williams as Alma, and Anne Hathaway as Jack's wife Lureen, bring out the full measure of their characters pain, stuck in unfulfilled marriages, one with knowledge as to why and the other without a clue. Bravo! Director Ang Lee is back in the saddle after his box office bomb, The Hulk. His fearless execution of the script, the bevy of award nominated performances, and the breathtaking shots of mountain vistas put him firmly back where he belongs - on the A-list with Hollywood's elite directors (not that he ever really left).

The hook of gay cowboys is what triggered the stampede of interest in the film, but Brokeback Mountain is like a sunset on the range; one color can't describe it, it's more complex than that, it has more layers. It's a movie that offers the viewer a window and a mirror; a window to glimpse a side of life likely different from your own and a mirror to view your reaction to it. Whether homosexuality is something you accept or reject, Brokeback Mountain is worth the potentially uncomfortable ride to see that view.

Ken Renner can be reached for comment at: krenner@bendcable.com