Rocky Mountain Guys
Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain an Oscar Contendor

Right now director Ang Lee’s romantic drama Brokeback Mountain is being bandied about in the media as “that gay cowboy movie.” Years from now, it will most likely be remembered more for its impact on viewers as a classic love story and the springboard for the careers of about a half dozen great young actors.

Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal star in director Ang Lee’s new drama Brokeback Mountain.

Based on a short story by Annie Proulx (Accordion Crimes, The Shipping News) and enlarged into a screenplay by Larry McMurtry (Lonesome Dove), Brokeback Mountain is as powerful a tale of forbidden love as we’ve witnessed on the silver screen since the heyday of interracial romances such as West Side Story and Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner. That’s appropriate in some regard since racial and religious taboos have fallen by the wayside leaving homosexuality as the “final frontier” for societal acceptance.

The movie follows two young ranch hands, Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger), who meet in the summer of 1963 when they are employed to look after a large herd of sheep in the beautiful untamed mountains of Wyoming. They form a friendship that escalates to physical intimacy before leaving the mountain to reclaim their day-to-day lives. Ennis marries Alma (Michelle Williams), has two daughters and works the local cattle ranches while Jack returns to the rodeo circuit, eventually meeting and marrying a well-to-do barrel racing cowgirl named Lureen (Anne Hathaway).

Four years after the initial encounter on Brokeback Mountain, Ennis and Jack reunite for a fishing trip—one that begins a lifetime of meeting three or four times a year for getaways that sometimes last a week. While neither of the men are what you would call flamboyant, Jack is the braver of the two when it comes to baring his true nature to the world. Ennis, on the other hand, remains the stoic cowpuncher who only betrays his closeted self with fits of uncontrolled emotion, usually anger.

Over the course of 20 years, the men’s long distance relationship puts a strain on their friendship and on their other relationships. Ennis and Alma divorce, while Jack and Lureen co-exist in a loveless business-like marriage.

Brokeback Mountain is a heart-wrenching tale of love and longing with some nice bits of humor thrown in for good measure. The expansive vistas of Wyoming—shot primarily in the Canadian Rockies—are breathtaking, especially during the early sheep-herding scenes. Lee also does a good job at preserving the integrity of each little era of the 60s and 70s through hairstyles, clothes, cars and slang. He makes a major misstep, however, when he has Steve Earle’s song “The Devil’s Right Hand,” coming out of jukebox during a barroom scene that supposedly takes place in the late 70s. The song may be unfamiliar to many film fans, but to Americana music listeners it will smack of the year 2000, taking them out of the magic movie moment. For that matter, Lee’s use of acoustic guitar strums and pedal steel glissandos in the background of the film are more than a little cloying.

But it is the performances of the actors—every last one of ‘em—that make this movie a timeless classic. They age with a subtle realistic grace over the two decades in a manner that pulls the viewer into their lives. Although Gyllenhaal has previously achieved movie star status in films such as Jarhead and Donnie Darko—and Ledger has done the same with leading roles in The Brothers Grimm and The Four Feathers—Brokeback Mountain is the movie that catapults them to a new level as serious actors.

Michelle Williams is best known for her work on TV’s Dawson’s Creek and now graduates from stellar actress in indie films like The Station Agent and The Baxter, to bona fide leading lady. Anne Hathaway has already been a leading actress for several years but her performance as the emotionally abandoned Lureen is light years from her lightweight roles in Ella Enchanted and The Princess Diaries.

Even the smaller roles are expertly cast and performed. Randy Quaid is all business and no humor as the bigoted ranch boss Joe Aquire. And when is Hollywood going to recognize the star potential of Linda Cardellini (Velma in the Scooby Doo films, nurse Samantha on TV’s E.R.) and give her some meaty roles? She shines in her few minutes as Cassie, the career waitress who tries to bring Ennis out of his emotional shell.

Lee also seems to have discovered some untapped talent in Kate Mara as Ennis’ 19-year-old daughter, Alma Jr. The young performer does more with a look than most actresses can do with a whole soliloquy.

As the Oscar race heats up, Brokeback Mountain will serve as a lightning rod for a lot of talk about homosexuality and homophobia in America. I hope all that discussion does not ignore the fact that the movie is one of the best dramas to hit the box office in recent memory. Go see it.

Brokeback Mountain is rated R for sexuality, nudity, language and some violence. It is currently playing at Regal Cinemas in Boone.