Review of Brokeback Mountain (2005) by Cameron J — 22 Jul 2012

Oh yeah, who better to play cowboys than manly men like Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal? Huh, I was thinking of saying that they seem prettyboy enough to make for good gay cowboys, but really, Heath Ledger must have been one smooth man's man, because even with a film of this type, he was still hooking up with Michelle Williams. I think it's safe to say that Ledger's ability to keep up romance with a girl who's playing the wife he cheats on with another man in a film pretty much solidifies that he was perfect to play Casanova, because he really could have gotten any girl he wanted, including Jake Gyllenhaal. No, I've seen Jake Gyllenhaal actually be quite believable as a pretty cool dude in some stuff, though you know you're in a bit of trouble as a man when you're prettier than your sister, and you don't have the advantage of having that sister being Joan Cusack. Actually, I don't know if Gyllenhaal is quite as pretty as his sister, Tobey Maguire, because he still makes for a more believably rugged cowboy in an Ang Lee film, and Maguire's Ang Lee cowboy film featured him as a pretty brutal killer, and on top of that, during the Civil War, back when they had real cowboys and not these bi rancher and rodeo ones from the 1960s. Hey, this Ang Lee film may not quite be as authentic to genuine cowboys like "Ride with the Devil" was, though it certainly makes for a much better film, as well as a really solid film by its own right. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't want to see Joker smack Donnie Darko's mouth, if only that, any more than the next straight guy, but, as an actual cowboy would put it, "wee doggie", this is one awesome film, though if you're expecting this very artsy, Oscar bait tragic-romance drama to not quite be as exciting as most cowboy flicks, then you clearly haven't watched too many westerns, because as far as cowboy films go, this is actually pretty entertaining, though hardly tight.

Looking at the premise, a runtime of 134 minutes sounds just long enough for the story to get things done comfortably, maybe with some room left for a little bit of padding, but really, if you think that, then you're wrong, because there's not a little bit of padding, but a lot of padding. Okay, maybe the film isn't relentlessly bloated with excess material, yet either way, the film does go plagued by overlong moments of expendable material, if it's so lucky to have something as eventful as that. On more than a few occasions, the culprit behind the film's padding isn't so much the editors' leaving cuttable material uncut, but rather the editors' leaving quite a few scenes just plain untrimmed, to where they drag aimlessly and leave the film to lose steam here and there. What further worsens the steam loss is the quietness, which surprisingly dulls the film down ever so rarely, yet still certainly slows the film down, relieving it of quite a bit of oomph and leaving the looseness in the editing to stand out more. To make matters worse, certain extended quiet moments with no dialogue leave not only the momentum of the film to go limp, but the substance, as these extended periods of limited exposion leave much flesh-out to lapse and drift apart, thus leaving substance to grow thinner and thinner until, after a while, we've momentarily lost our grip on the story and have become disengaged. Really, outside of the quiet dragging and slowness, there is very little to complain about, yet the fact of the matter is that this film takes its sweet time to ever so steadily unravel, so much so that its intrigue runs thin here and there, and more often than not, that doesn't so much mean death for a film like this, yet typically leaves a film of this type to fall short of its potential. This film, however, powers well past its being much too steady in story structure by spending little time to break between deliveries of strengths backed by such profound inspiration, until, by the end, we're left with a final product that meets its potential of excellence, or at the very least stands as an, if nothing else, handsome visual experience.

Rodrigo Prieto's cinematography isn't necessarily breathtaking, yet it is consistently handsome, with deep and detailed coloring and lighting that captures the film's rather neo-western ruggedness, and marries it with a touch of artistry that enhances dramatic depth, while a certain broadness in photographic scope gives the film a kind of slick sweep, yet not at the expense of intimacy that helps in placing us into this world. Still, as handsome as the cinematography is, it's the attractive grandness of the script that really sustains your attention. Sure, the script gets to be a touch too broad, in that it leaves quite a bit of room for excess material that occasionally slows the film down more than fleshes it out, yet on the whole, the script is fairly tight, yet still very lively in its structure, boasting quite a bit of razor-sharp dialogue that spices up characterization, as if its needs to be spiced up all that much. This film is very much a character piece, and a large part of why it succeeds as one is in its generally being so comfortable in structure, with exposition being mostly thoughtful and thorough in its establishing our characters with distinct humanity and depth, as well as dynamicity that never drifts too far away from the essence of our characters and leaves them to really engross as memorable, colorful and deeply compelling. One of the absolute biggest reasons why this film succeeds as a character drama is in its acting's being so strong, though generally fairly restrained in material, for although almost all of our characters are distinct, partially because they're so charismatically portrayed, there's not a whole of stuff for the secondary performers to work with. However, when material does arise, it goes delivered pretty sharply, with Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway being mostly held back, yet occasionally upstanding in their portrayal of the fearing and unloved-feeling wives, one of whom is all too aware of how deep the husbands' relatishionship runs, and one of whom is all too unaware of, well, most everything in her distant husband's life, yet either way, the point is that, while our spouse characters have the same issue of facing a failing marriage, their exact struggles are almost entirely different, and the actresses behind them are faithful to that distinctiveness, yet are still both very impressive on golden occasions. Still, while Williams and Hathaway are given the most material as supporting players, it's our leads who have the most to do, and boy, do they make real sure that none of that material goes to waste.

Our men of the hour, Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, are both blazingly charismatic, really nailing that slick cowboy charm with sharp dialogue delivery, cool presence and some excellent accents, yet when it comes to the deeper stuff, they're all in, whether they be audaciously and authentically portraying the experiments of the bi-curious with only as much flinch as you would expect to see two unsure men who are doing what our leads are doing, or portraying a heavily layered aging process that gives you a highly believable feel for the maturing and reflecting of two unfulfilled and regretful men as they approach mid-life, a climactic field in life that lord knows one performer has still not yet gained experience in, and one performer will never have the chance to gain experience in (Oh, I just depressed myself a little bit). Outside of these essential mutual aspects, Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist are very different character who approach their struggles in very different ways, and while Twist's struggles don't exactly present a whole lot of material to play up, as he's too aware of what he truly is to have that much internal turmoil, Jake Gyllenhaal still delivers as the more self-aware, yet still very uncertain lead, with a firm yet still vulnerable presence and sharp emotional range that explores the deep certainties and uncertainties within Jack Twist in an engrossing fashion. Ennis Del Mar, however, presents more material to play up, as he is a very calm and simple character who's falling into deeply complex struggles and discomforting enlightenments that he's still very dubious about will almost entirely reshape his being, and hardly in a terribly good way, and you better believe that the late, great Heath Ledger executes such a role with brilliant subtlety, slick grace, layered depth and profound emotional range that consistently engages, and on a few occasions, just plain blows you away. Our two leads are sensational as individuals, and when they work off of each other as the central relationship, they fire on all cylinders with sparkling chemistry that gives you a sense of comradery, and oftentimes more than just the friendly kind, as well as a kind of distance that defines the tragic uncertainty of our leads' relationship, because when you get down to it, this isn't so much a tragic story of realization, but a tragic story of unassurance that plays up the affects of the central relationship more than the central relationship itself. Ledger and Gyllenhaal sell you on this with their transcendently haunting individual and collaborative performances, yet the man who rounds everything off and makes this film so powerful is director Ang Lee, whose storytelling may not be perfect, yet is profoundly poignant and subtly thoughtful in his meditativeness, so much so that he really absorbs a lot of engrossing depth that drowns out potential dryness admist all of this slowness. As slow, padded and quiet as the film is, it's only a matter of time before things get a smidge dull, yet ever so surprisingly, the film is very rarely diull, as Lee absorbs piercing and consistent intrigue that gives the film a degree of entertainment value, as well as a whole heap of dramatic depth and emotional resonance that intensifies as the film unravels and steadily becomes more bittersweet and emotionally compelling, until by the end, well, I have to admit, I really did find myself genuinely crying, and fairly hard. Now, with all of my high praise, the film isn't quite a masterpice, as it is not that kind of film, not having too much restraint and enough immediate juice in its concept or structure to stand as a sweeping success, yet for what it is, this film dances close to the edge of greatness, as the screenwriters, the performers and Ang Lee milk everything for all its worth, and the final product emerges a thoroughly engrossing and emotionally powerful drama that may only be as good as it can get, but man, that's still really good.

Overall, the slowness of the film may very rarely break the film down as dull, yet much expendable material and quite a few scenes that stand to be tighter drag down the film momentum, especially with all of the quietness that sometimes leaves the film to loosen its grip on exposition, while what really holds this film back the most is simply the limitations of its premise and structure, and yet, that said, this film comes pretty close to transcending those limitations, catching your eye with lively cinematography and capturing you investment with a celver, well-structured and extensive script, powered by a slew of colorful performances, the most powerful of which being by the outstanding leading men Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, whose intense individual depth and crackling charisma, combined with Ang Lee thoroughly inspired, poignant and intriguing storytelling, breathes into the final product immense emotional resonance that grips you from beginning to end, and emotionally strikes you by the end, thus leaving "Brokeback Mountain" to stand as a stirring drama retrained by its natural limitations, though not to where it still doesn't knock you out.

3.5/5 - Solid.