Well my verdict is this, overrated. I wasn't surprised, I mean hard for any film given this much insane praise to measure up. People seem more interested in praising the subject matter than the actual film itself, just as I believe the Crying Game was vastly overrated. Ledger is good, but damn I was expecting something more. I think that Jake's got the harder roll, and when he pulls it off it is much more rewarding. Although my favorite moment in the film came from Anne Hathaway. When Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal) finally tells his father in law off during Thanksgiving, you see her crack a very brief and subtle smile, she's loving it, and everyone in the theater knew it.

Michelle Williams' Alma seems downright tragic here, and she seems poised to burst into tears at any moment. It's a sadness I haven't really seen from her, and makes us sympathetic to her, even though Ennis is the main character here. He is a man of few words, but you get the feeling that he chooses his words wisely, and doesn't just open his mouth, as other character invariably seem to.

Now there are some things the film avoids. Most notably is a confrontation between Jack and Lureen, but you get the feeling that she knows what's been going on, just as you get the feeling that his parents know the truth. The only real confrontation comes from Alma, who confronts him years after their separation. It is a scene for dramatic effect, that I'm not sure I particularly felt.

Ledger has most of the best moments to himself, and I'd say the highlight of that comes from him visiting Jack's parent's house, and going in his old room, finding that old denim outfit still covered in his own blood from that fight they had the very first time on Brokeback. It is the one time where we really feel what Ennis feels, where his lack of articulation is appropriate. The film is full of good and inspired moments, but far from the best film of the year praise that it's been racking up.

*spoiler*
Now perhaps the story is a little predictable. Love has to be tragic, especially gay love in movies. America doesn't take to kindly to queers and naturally these two had to pay. I figured both would be killed as was foreshadowed. Perhaps and Easy Rider like execution, but we weren't given that route. Instead a classic case of Hollywood moralizing came into play. Surely Jake's cowboy had to die, he was the promiscous one, and he was the agressor during that first night together. He started it, he was the "wicked" one so of course he has to pay with his life. It's all trivial nonsense and I think the film could have prospered without going that route, I also felt perhaps an AIDS reference would pop up, because his death does coincide nicely with the epidemic.

Grade B+