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Rating:  - Consider the character
I think I've reviewed this elsewhere, but I have to address the countless idiotic comments that Ledger couldn't be understood. His character was a man who has realized he is the embodiment of what his father taught him was the worst thing in life. In his innermost self, he knows awful truth. With it goes the thought that he doesn't deserve to live. With that goes the thought that nothing he could say could be worth hearing, therefore Ennis' speech is sotto voce, halting and painful. If you can't get this, turn the damn film off your machine and watch Song of the South (if you can find it).
Rating:  - Horrid
It is incumbent upon all good critics to be honest about possible biases, so here goes. When I first read E. Annie Proulx's short story collection Close Range, I knew Brokeback Mountain was, by far, the worst of the stories in her very erratic collection, and a really bad story, period. Not because it had gay characters, but because the whole book is a long string of Western stereotypes and caricatures. Reading the tale, it was quite obvious that Proulx has probably never met a gay person, much less a gay cowboy, in her entire life.
However, after recently viewing the film that beat it out for the Oscar, Crash- a horrendous film, if there ever was one, I was prepared to concede that there was no possible way Brokeback Mountain, which I doubted could even be a passable film, could sink as low as Crash. After all, Crash crammed a dozen or so PC tales into its nightmare, whereas this film was only gonna force feed a viewer one PC tale. So buffered, I had made plans to begin my review of this film with something admitting the above, like, `Yes, Brokeback Mountain is better than Crash, but chlamydia is better than AIDS, so what's the point?' But, I now again have to rewrite how I approach dissecting this film, for, as I set forth to watch Ang Lee's latest film, I was unprepared for just how interminably dull and poorly written and acted this film was.
Yes, it's terminally PC, and no, it's not a love story, any more than the addle-minded and obnoxious young boob lovers in Titanic were in love. It's a tale about, let's face it, two horny guys who like branding each other in the wild. And yes, there is great scenery. This film trumps Crash cinematographically in every way. But, Crash sped through its many tales and characters so quickly that it was more like a music video, and, as a consequence, it was like a quick bug that, once you let out its last bad remnant, the fever lifted within minutes. Brokeback Mountain is like a festering herpes sore that will take a week or two to go away, but you just know it's gonna recur and damn your sleeping hours every now and then.
The story of the film is so familiar that to reiterate it seems a waste of space.... this is an incredibly dull, trite, tendentious, and tedious film, whose two leads are deceitful and thoroughly despicable losers whom even the film knows are not worth the time in developing, especially when the `message' is there to sell it. As proof of the ignoble nature of the leads, Ennis even mumbles to Jack, `Because of you, I'm nowhere,' blaming everyone but himself for his own shallow and insidious misery. This sort of bad writing, and dubious moralizing, makes Brokeback Mountain every bit as bad a film as its music video-like Oscar-winning rival, Crash.
Rating:  - A definite Collector's Item
If you are a fan of the late actor Heath Ledger, this 2-discs Brokeback Mountain DVD is definitely a collector's item. It comes with a bonus DVD fills with special features with interviews with the cast, crews, and the director, Ang Lee (in my opinion, one of the best directors). You will get to learn/know more about the film and the challenges they encountered to bring this excellent film into reality. Also, there are eight high quality postcards (with still images from the movie)included in this purchase. All in all, a worthwhile purchase and a great way to remember one of the greatest & most talented actors ever lived, Heath Ledger!!!
Rating: - You want to talk about great acting?
A couple years ago I was staying with family that has digital cable. Let me digress: Ever read _Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business_by Neil Postman? It's worth checking out. Anyway, I was hanging around the house a lot and this movie was playing on the HBO channels. At first I wasn't too interested to be honest. You know, seemed it might be a liberal Hollywood "message movie" and the subject matter didn't particularly appeal to me. I mean romance movies aren't my thing anyway and one about two dudes is just not my cup of tea. And there was so much buzz around it cause it's the "gay cowboy movie" and people are retarded and trip, in large part because of the very entertainment industry TV shows and magazines that are mainly responsible for generating the publicity for Hollywood products. But I started catching parts of it when I was hanging out channel surfing and ended up seeing the whole thing. ANYWAY, this is a very good movie, plain and simple. I was moved by it alright? I mean it got to me. And I made a point to tell friends. It bothered me that I felt even slightly funny about telling people I know that I liked the movie. I called BS on myself.
The motivation for writing this here Amazon "review" for BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN is Heath Ledger's performance.
Seeing Ledger in this role it was perfectly clear to me at the time that Ledger was going to be one of his generation's finest actors. I've heard from fanboys a million times over how awesome Ledger's performance as The Joker is and it really is an amazing performance and I completely agree. However, long before ever seeing THE DARK KNIGHT I knew Heath Ledger was going to be a superstar. I knew well before ever even seeing a clip of him as The Joker he was going to be great as The Joker solely based on his performance in this film and that THE DARK KNIGHT would make him a star.
I'd also add that BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN is a much better pictire than CRASH which won for "Best Picture" that year. Ang Lee is a truly great drama film director. ICE STORM and RIDE WITH THE DEVIL are also great and unique films. The tribute below is touching and I think perfectly articulates what so many have thought and felt..
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"Ledger's magnificent performance is an acting miracle. He seems to tear it from his insides. Ledger doesn't just know how Ennis moves, speaks and listens; he knows how he breathes. To see him inhale the scent of a shirt hanging in Jack's closet is to take measure of the pain of love lost.
Rare is the performance that can honestly be called a "revelation," but that's what it felt like to watch Heath Ledger in "Brokeback Mountain." Not only did he bring iconic life and nuance to the existential loneliness of Ennis Del Mar, a taciturn but complex (and conflicted) character, but for such mature work to spring from the teen-idol star of "10 Things I Hate About You" and "A Knight's Tale" was... well, revelatory itself -- the astonishing revelation of a suddenly, fully developed actor whose juvenile efforts scarcely hinted he'd be capable of such moving depth and clarity. Ledger emerged as if from a cocoon, gleaming with promise and flexing his wings.
Only two years after he received his first Oscar nomination for this iconic, star-making performance, it seems unthinkable that we should be mourning his death, at the age of 28...."
-- outstanding film critic Jim Emerson.
Couldn't say it better.
Rating: - Brokeback Mountain
Didn't care much for the movie. I think that the only thing that I enjoyed watching was the backgound settings. There was no "chemistry" as they say where Heath Ledger was concern. At times he looked like he was really uncomfortable with the role. Like you could tell that he wasn't really gay. Jake on the other hand, was really into the character role. Overall, I didn't like the entire movie. I was expecting more.
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