Cowboys and fishing trips and homosexuality, oh my! Considering all the Oscar buzz and controversy surrounding this movie, I was preparing myself for a great movie-going experience, or at least an intense one. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal kissing is bound to ruffle a few feathers, and so many people were up in arms about something as masculine as the cowboy lifestyle being crossed with homosexuality. Needless to say, my interest was piqued. Now that I’ve seen the movie, I feel sort of gypped.
The movie didn’t go for shock value, which is good. It didn’t look at a homosexual relationship as something entirely normal, either, which is good, too. But that doesn’t leave it with very much room to go to. It would have been nice, I think, if the director made some sort of comment, even a miniscule one. Instead of making a statement and then letting the audience members make up their own minds, Ang Lee cut off his own tongue before he even got to that point.
The plot of Brokeback Mountain involves Ennis and Jack, two cowboys who find an interesting way to keep warm during cold nights on the prairie. The time period of the story is 1963 and back then, this type of thing was just not done. Even in this day and age, it would be met with acceptance but a few raised eyebrows. As unsettling or unusual as the subject matter is, the movie doesn’t really seem to care. The tone through the entire first act is one of voyeurism, with no energy put forth to make us like, sympathize with, or even understand the characters or their actions. The actions and reactions of the characters (at least in the first part) seem random and inexplicable, and the movie doesn’t even try to explain them. Things happen, and we as the audience feel like intruders, watching events that have nothing to do with us. Not that I’m callous, but why should I care?
It took awhile for the story to introduce a character I could really get behind, but it did with Alma, Michelle Williams’ role. I totally felt for her as she watched her husband have an affair. I get the feeling that I would have had sympathy for Anne Hathaway’s character as well, if she had had more screen time. Jack and Ennis were the two involved in the relationship that was the main focus of the film, but the story I found much more involving was what happened with their respective wives. I wish a movie could have been made from their perspectives. The other supporting performances (Randy Quaid and Linda Cardellini) added great touches, being fully realized characters with very limited screen time.
Brokeback Mountain was supposed to be a big movie, as it received a lot of hype and generated a lot of controversy. Honestly, I don’t see what all the fuss was about. While it’s true that it was strange to see two big-name actors (that were both men) having sex with each other, the tone of the movie encouraged non-reaction instead of the opposite. The cinematography and sets were very good, but the story had a messy resolution. Thumbs up to Michelle Williams for making a character that I could really believe in, but as for the rest of the movie, I could really take it or leave it. I imagine the novel is a whole lot better.
Iconic lines:
“Brokeback got us good, don’t it?”
“Texans don’t drink coffee?”
22 Rating: 2
Particle Man
3 comments:
Hey Particle Man,
Way to steal my review. (jk!) ;)
I'll content myself with posting a comment. I also had some mixed feelings about Brokeback Mountain. Before I saw it, I was excited for what I felt was it's potential to reach different people in different ways. After I saw it, I felt uncertain about what to do with the experience.
I agree with you about how it was hard to "get behind" the characters of Jack and Ennis. Ennis is so quiet and reserved, that we really end up knowing little about him and his motivations. Jack is so emotionally reactive that we're left to follow him in one extreme direction to another, without a lot of explanation to pull it all together. And Ang Lee does seem to refrain from making any blatant statement. However, For these reasons, I kind of liked it.
I liked that there was no "homosexuality is wrong/bad" statement, as well as there was no "everyone should accept and be ok with homosexuality." Regardless of Lee's personal opinion, the movie just told a story. The characters, while hard to understand, existed as I feel they really would have, given the time period and their personalities. The people around them reacted in ways that would have been probable: confusion, hurt, anger, violence. And the ending left us with a sense of, "good or bad, this is the way it is." I'm glad Ang Lee didn't try to sell me something, he only got me to try to empathize. And I feel like I did.
Btw, I gave it a 7.
This movie was completely ruined for me by the ridiculous hype beforehand......it si simply a workmanlike film, with important ideas, and relatively little dramatic steam behind it. I think Particle Man hit this on the head.
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