Brokeback Mountain : The Good, The Bad, and The Hot

I finally got to see 'Brokeback Mountain' right before New Year's Eve. I was pleased to see the movie held up to all of the reviews' glowing praise through my eyes. The film captured the gay experience like no other so far and will hopefully become the hit it deserves to as it opens up wider this month. I wanted to throw in a few comments, without revealing any major plot points for those who haven't seen it yet.

The good:

• Honesty: The movie does not flinch from telling the truth, whether it be to the two men's genuine and endearing love for each other, or the ill effect their dishonesty with their wives and families has on everyone involved. If more of the people who are carping about the film's pushing of the 'gay agenda' would actually see it, much of that furor would die down. There's no romanticism of homosexuality here, and the movie is better for it.
• Parents' Effect: The flashback scene where Ledger's dad takes him to see what happened to the local farmer who lived with another man is haunting in its own context. But what gay person didn't sit there and reflect on the numerous times as pre-adolescents, before any semblance of sexuality was showing, that we all were told or shown that quite simply, gay=bad? The gay jokes.... the comments about AIDS..... the lack of any visibility into any type of positive gay images.... so years later when those feelings began to manifest themselves, they needed to be quickly and quietly buried. Haunting stuff.
• Gay-Straight Relationships: In a refreshing turn, the movie took time to show how a gay man and straight woman can start a relationship and build something from that. Many of my gay friends have said they've known from day one they were gay, but it wasn't that obvious for me. I dated my share of women through college and had genuine feelings for them, which I saw on screen for the first time.
• The acting: This is the movie that should define Heath Ledger's career. He took what in many actor's hands could have been a mean-spirited, self-loathing cretin and made him a tortured soul who every gay man, or anyone who has ever had something be so right yet so wrong, will identify with in some way or another.

The bad (or not-as-good, anyway...)

• Pace: The movie is sloooooow. The first hour of the movie is very lush in its scenery and its long drawn out build up to Jake and Heath's first encounter. Things start moving faster towards the middle and completion of the film, and then were almost too fast for me. The scene where Jake's character's story is concluded was too fast and ambiguous. Overall, I would have preferred the pace to be evened out a bit.
• Sense of time: The story is told over 20+ years, but beyond Anne Hathaway's sometimes amusing wigs (read a funny blog entry charting America's history through said wigs), it was hard to get a real sense of time passing. Obviously the same actors had to play the parts across the expanse of years, but I felt a bit better job could have been done to demonstrate it.

The hot:

• Come on, Jake Gyllenhall and Heath Ledger make out! What else do you need to know?? But seriously, the release of pent up emotions and fumbling nature of their first encounter is amazingly true.

Overall, its a brilliant film. The best part about it for me is that it makes the viewer think and for many straight people in the audience, see a part of the gay experience they would have not otherwise seen. I left the movie satisfied, but the more I reflect on it and discuss it with others, the more it effects me. To me, that's what makes a powerful piece of media-- when people continue to discuss the good and bad long after its been produced.

Well, and lord knows all of us guys will be talking about the hot for sometime as well.