"Brokeback Mountain"

Ang Lee is hands down the master of making films heavy on the drama and weak on the plot, characters, and dialogue, but, in his defense I might have thought this was a good film if I didn't keep hearing how awesome it is.  Unfortunately, due to all the (undeserved) hype I think I was expecting something more than gay cowboys eating pudding.

Brokeback Mountain is easily more subtle anti-gay propaganda than it is in portraying a healthy homosexual relationship. It starts with the first fucking scene, which is perhaps the most animalistic, awkward, insensual, and disturbing fuck scenes I can recall ever coming to the big screen. Heath Ledger, as Ennis del Mar, mumbles every line throughout the film, making his character (for me at least) completely unbelievable and unlikable. It follows as the two main characters go on to live their straight lives in their straight marriages but continue on as fuckbuddies over the years. I can't help but feel that it's completely showing how "choosing the gay lifestyle is wrong," and will ruin your marriage and, in this film, get you killed.

The years passing from scene to scene are unclear but littered with pointless dialogue to make sure the spoon-fed Hollywood loving audience isn't completely lost. I can't figure out if Lee was consciously trying to make it "artistic" by appearing somewhat vague, but it was ruined by the poor dialogue thrown in.

What I can almost give Lee credit for is the beautiful screen shots, staring at the majestic mountains, colorful creeks, in contrast to the flat landscape the characters travel through, but, working with a landscape that is stunning and overwhelming to begin with, it honestly isn't that difficult. Like I discovered years ago, it's hard to take a bad picture of something like the Grand Canyon.

Of course, all the Hollywood critics and academy are all gaga over this film and I'm sure somebody's walking away with an award just because they've been beaten up (see every award given to Hilary Swank or Halle Berry in Monsters Ball).  I don't buy it for one minute, though.