So, Brokeback….
Yeah….
On the one hand, I wish I hadn’t heard so much about the damn thing before I saw it. I was expecting something truly life-altering–like Imitation of Life would be if it were re-made with Jenna Jameson and Shirley Q. Liquor (which sounds like a fantastic idea, in case any of you Hollywood types are listening). The endless barrage of glowing reviews and grand, sweeping TV spots got my hopes impossibly high.
On the other hand, the film that I ultimately saw was pretty damn good: subtle and sublime and many other things that start with “s”.
On the other hand, I thought the ending was a tad much: borderline smarm, followed by a swell of guitar music. Now, like I said, that’s what I walked into the theater expecting, but then the director spent 132 minutes giving me nothing but understatement, so throwing in a last dash of melodrama just for the sake of turning on the waterworks seemed….well, frankly, a tad tacked-on.
On the other hand, the cinematography was so freaking stunning, I’d be surprised if the Wyoming Tourism Commission hasn’t already hired a cat burglar to break into Ang Lee’s condo and steal the B-roll from the hidden floor safe beneath the antique Berber rug in his dining room.
On the other hand, the special effects hair was atrocious. I mean, where did Mary-Lou Green-Benvenuti (whose last film was Dawn of the Dead, and it showed) buy that crap? At Wig World on Canal Street? Can’t Jake Gyllenhaal grow a moustache on his own? Can’t Heath Ledger crank out a simple set of sideburns?
On the other hand, if Heath Ledger were standing in front of me right now, in all of his naked, tight-lipped glory, I wouldn’t concern myself too much with his sideburns.
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