Pretty damned good. The arc of the story is to be what’s expected but Ang Lee wisely lets every scene play out with its message unspoken, allowing for many detailed surprises. This allows the film to be both epic and very intimate and real. Heath Ledger is terrific, even if you can’t understand half of his mumblings. One of the better movies about taboo love I’ve seen (Dear Lord, have you tried watching “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner” lately?”) Could very well be an effective polemic, though I must say that Ledger and Gyllenhaal, for all their press, do kinda wimp out; there’s no tongue in any of their kissing and virtually no skin-on-skin action.
1 Comment
Welcome
Jordan Hoffman is a New York-based writer and film critic working for The Guardian, Vanity Fair, Thrillist, Times of Israel, NY Daily News and elsewhere.
He is the host of ENGAGE: The Official Star Trek Podcast, a member of the New York Film Critics Circle and challenges you to a game of backgammon.
Marcy and I disagree (http://worldfilm.about.com/od/independentfilm/fr/brokeback.htm)
I found this dull dull dull. It’s like if you’d make “Romeo & Juliet” but they decide that because of that whole family thing, they shouldn’t be together, so the play follows them grow old in their respective arranged marriages and die. To the Heath Ledger character, it’s a foregone conclusion that they don’t have a future together so why try? Well, that kinda dispair doesn’t make good fodder for drama. Could have made a decent short, but at two and a half hours, it’s an interminable bore.
I’m already worried about what you’ll make of “Match Point.”