Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain turns a Wyoming sheep range into the site of a love that outlasts everything built around it. The film runs 134 minutes and carries the tagline “Love is a force of nature.” It earns that line. This is our review, and the verdict is a strong one: 8.7 out of 10.
Trailer, via Focus Features.
Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist
Heath Ledger plays Ennis Del Mar, a man who cannot say what he feels. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Jack Twist, who can, and does, and pays for it. In 1963, rancher Joe Aguirre hires them to herd sheep on Brokeback Mountain. They drink. They share a tent. They agree it was a one-time thing, and it is not.
The film follows them from 1963 to 1983. Ennis marries Alma Beers, played by Michelle Williams, and they have two daughters. Jack moves to Texas, marries Lureen Newsome, played by Anne Hathaway, and sells farm equipment for her father. The marriages hold. The connection does not break.
What Ledger Built
Ledger wanted Ennis, not Jack. He called Ennis more complex, and said the role’s appeal was the character’s “lack of words.” That is the performance. Ennis’s whole life is the gap between what he wants and what he will allow himself.
Gyllenhaal said the bond between the two men “is not just a love, but a loneliness.” He is right, and the film knows it.
Two Men, Two Roads
| Ennis Del Mar | Jack Twist | |
|---|---|---|
| Portrayed by | Heath Ledger | Jake Gyllenhaal |
| Home | Wyoming | Texas |
| Marriage | Alma Beers | Lureen Newsome |
| Wants | To stay hidden | To build a life together |
What the Film Gets Right
- The brawl in August 1963, when the contract ends and neither man can say goodbye cleanly.
- Alma seeing the kiss four years later, and saying nothing.
- Ennis refusing to leave his family, haunted by what his father showed him.
The film’s central argument is that Ennis’s fear is not cowardice. It is memory. That distinction is what separates Brokeback Mountain from the “gay cowboy movie” label the media attached to it, which was always too small.
Where the Film Lands
Ang Lee won Best Director at the 78th Academy Awards, and the film won Best Adapted Screenplay and Original Score. It was also nominated for Best Picture. It grossed over $178 million worldwide against a $14 million budget. Those numbers matter less than the quiet: two people finding love and never getting to keep it.
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