Is it wrong to refer to Brokeback Mountain as That Gay Cowboy Movie?  Probably, since Mountain is so much more than that (like, say, one of the year’s best pictures).  But, right or wrong, I still feel that the majority of the movie-going public would prefer not to be ambushed by this particular type of plot development.  Still, it’s not like this is the first gay Western – Ang Lee’s film is merely the first mainstream offering that doesn’t dance around the concept (I kept thinking about Joe Buck expressing his surprise when learning of John Wayne’s sexuality in Midnight Cowboy).

Lee’s filmography is quite eclectic, but Mountain is another of the Taiwanese director’s takes on the repercussion of emotional repression, only in this instance, it’s much more believable than Bruce Banner trying not to get angry.  Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal play a pair of young Wyoming cowboys who, in the summer of 1963, are hired to watch over a flock of sheep on picturesque Brokeback Mountain.  Whether or not they care to admit it, they fall in love, and express the typical anger/shame/denial trifecta that comes along with any kind of forbidden romance.

When the summer is over, the two part ways and start families, but neither of the men seem as happy as they were during their magical summer together.  The rest of Mountain takes place over the next two decades, following the lives of the characters in between their annual fishing trips, which take place at seedy motels as they rekindle their feelings for each other.  And, yes – there is the inevitable scene where one of them flips their wife over and takes them in the naughty hole, just to remind them of the good times on Brokeback Mountain, which is so gorgeous, even Rick Santorum couldn’t help but fall in love with the bloated corpse of Jesse Helms.

Armed with lush photography from 21 Grams’ Rodrigo Prieto and a tranquil score from The Motorcycle Diaries’ Gustavo Santaolalla, Lee’s film packs an punch emotionally, visually and aurally (note: that’s different than orally), though their efforts are generally overshadowed by the cast.  Ledger’s gruff, monosyllabic Ennis Del Mar is easily his strongest work to date (trumping his previous best, when he played Val Kilmer in Lords of Dogtown), while Michelle Williams nearly steals the film as Ennis’s wife in a quiet, complex, heartbreaking performance that will certainly garner award consideration.  I can’t believe how good of an actress she’s become.

Mountain is based on Annie Proulx (The Shipping News) 1997 short story from The New Yorker, which predated the murder of Wyoming’s Matthew Shepard by one year.  It was adapted for the screen by novelist and Lonesome Dove creator Larry McMurtry and partner Diana Ossana.  Mountain is also one of the best films I’ve seen this year.  Don’t be a dick and skip it just because you’re freaked out by watching two men kiss.

2:14 –

for sexuality, nudity, language and some violence