Source: A&E
and The Daily Tarheel

Viewers Can't Quit Cowboy
By Chris Johnson
Issue date: 01/19/2006

MOVIE REVIEW
Brokeback Mountain
5 Stars


In interviews conducted after the completion of Brokeback Mountain, director Ang Lee reflected on Michelle William's involvement with the realism of the on-screen romance between Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Williams, who plays Ledger's wife in the film and, in reality, is engaged to him, asked her fiance and Gyllenhaal to stand nearby and make out while she acted out a scene in which she discovers Ledger's character's involvement with another man. When she thought their kissing was not involved enough, she asked them to intensify it.

That's the kind of emotional authenticity that Lee seeks to bring to all of his projects - and it's also his greatest asset as an aartist and a filmmaker.

Lee's ability to tackle concepts beyond the realm of both cinematic convention and directorial niches is something that has typified his films.

From the family strife of 1997's The Ice Storm to the exotic romanticism of 2000's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the diverse projects dotting Lee's resume has solidified him as one of the best in the business.

With Brokeback Mountain, he achieves a new level of virtuosity, exploring the story of two men whose love for each other is ignited by one summer spent together herding sheep in the Wyoming mountainside.

Based on the short story by E. Annie Proulx, first published in The New Yorker in October 1997, the movie sexplores the relationship between Ennis Del Mar (Ledger) and Jack Twist (Gyllenhaal).

With an authoritative command of visual artistry and a brave sense of honesty in every frame, Brokeback Mountain is the kind of movie Oscar dreams are made of.

Working with an ensemble cast comprising Ledger, Gyllenhaal, Williams, anf former Disney stable horse Anne Hathaway, Lee once again embodies the confident filmmaker, aware of both his actors' limits and his story's dramatic potential. The result is a film of inherent aesthetic beauty and gravity.

Ledger turns in a lead performance that redefines his entire acting career, emoting equal amounts of subtlety and voraciousness. As Del Mar, Ledger is empowering and secures a place in the minds of critics as one of the finest performances of this or any year.

Gyllenhaal, Williams and Hathaway all deliver substantive and engrossing performances, getting lost inside screenwriter Larry McMurtry's powerful script.

Brokeback Mountain is more than simply one of the best films of the year, because its value extends beyond what is seen onscreen. It's a movie that stays with you, and more so, it's a movie that moves you - a scarcity in today's films.

Long after the credits roll, you'll understand what Twist meant when he said to Del Mar, "I wish I knew how to quit you."

Indeed, Brokeback Mountain is as addictive as love itself.