Brokeback Mountain

This past weekend I saw Brokeback Mountain with Jolie. Given all of the hype surrounding the movie, I went in with the expectation that it was over-hyped. The movie lived up to my expectations but was still worth watching nonetheless.

Overall I would rate the movie 7/10. Some of the acting was really, really good and the story was ok for a character development film (a little slow). My main beef with the film is that some of the characters felt too modern for a movie starting in the 60s. Heath Ledger, Anne Hathaway, and Randy Quaid are right on the money-- Ledger being the standout but Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Williams seemed three decades too modern.

I was also expecting this to be somewhat of a tear-jerker but was suprised that it didn't really choke me up at any point. Some of the scenes are pretty emotionally brutal but I always felt like I was watching the movie from a distance; I wasn't engulfed enough to create the expected emotion. I think the main problem was that it took me half the film to suspend disbelief and buy Gyllenhaal's character (modernity problem).

Jolie (and other women I talked to) had a much different take on the movie. For her it was emotionally engaging and sad. I am not sure if it evoked any tears but she was really liked Ennis (Ledger) and sympathized with his pain. She rated the movie 9/10 due to the emotional connection and superb acting, the only knock being that it wasn't revolutionary.