KOL Rating:

After seeing this movie, I wanna move to Wyoming and become a cowboy!

I been joking that Brokeback Mountain is movie-making history, but seriously, it is! I have been so excited about this movie ever since I first heard of it about nine months ago. I went to the 11:30 am showing at Regal Cinema in South Beach, figuring those queens don’t wake until 1:00 pm. There was a line of people at the door, waiting to get in and buy tickets!

While I was watching the movie, I realized this is the first western, I really could appreciate. The location was beautiful and lent authenticity to the love that is born between two men, as did the peripheral characters. The authenticity I speak of is honesty. The story is plain and straightforward; there are no punches pulled, no twists or turns. I have noticed this trend more and more – Thumbsucker and A History of Violence. This is a true love story. What makes this story so moving is that it starts without love and finishes with a love that never ends. It is also a tragedy; a tragedy that a love so pure is stunted by fear. The tag line for this movie, "Love is a force of nature" could not be more appropriate.

Heath Ledger as Ennis Del Mar and Jake Gyllenhaal as Jack Twist give incredible performances: the love scenes so believable I got a woody; the love so intense my envy was overwhelmed by passion; and so much pain that I became angered. My favorite line: Jack telling Ennis "I wish I knew how to quit you." The supporting cast gave performances just as strong and rewarding, with special mention to Roberta Maxwell as Jack’s Mother.