Last night, I finally saw Brokeback Mountain. I read the short story at least two months before the movie was released. The short story was clean and sparse and elegant. And according to everything, I'd read and the trailers I saw, the movie was the same. In fact, even though I'd only read the short story, it was as if I'd also seen the movie.
But the movie finally arrived at the Bear Tooth so I headed off last night to drink beer and actually see the movie. Wow. It was absolutely stunning. The combination of Annie Proulx, Larry McMurtry, and Ang Lee produced what has to be one of the great movies of the west ever made. Speaking as someone who comes from a ranching family, this movie nailed it. All the way from the dialog, to the towns, to the people, and to the scenery. Viewing the movie was almost a religious experience.
In regards to Heath Ledger, Pooh hasn't seen the movie, but he's pretty sure that Heath Ledger was just being Heath Ledger. Well, I admit that I've never seen a movie with Heath Ledger. But I would bet that his peformance in this movie is way beyond anything he's ever done. It was transcendent. I absolutely agree that Philip Seymour Hoffman should have received the Oscar for Best Actor. However, Heath Ledger was only about 1/2 step behind. He inhabited his role just as Hoffman inhabited his role.
4:12:18 PM 
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