American
color
Directed by Ang Lee
Starring Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway
(originally saw in the theater)
The Plot Basically Breaks Down Like This:
So there are these two cowboy type guys and they meet on this mountain while herding sheep. One thing leads to another and soon they are sharing a snuggly sleeping bag for two. But instead of living happily ever after with each other, they go their separate ways once the sheep season is over. One guy marries his cute but somewhat naive little sweetheart while the other marries this wild rodeo chick with money and awesome boobs. Over the years, however, the two guys continue to meet up for "fishing trips" where very little fishing gets done. They still love each other, but they just can't figure out how to be together in a world that frowns on such things (sometimes with tire irons to the face).
My Thoughts Basically Break Down Like This:
I saw this in the theater and I thought it was one of the most beautifully tragic love stories kind of like ever. I oooohhhed and awwwwwed and cried my little eyes out. My mother, who had gone with me to see the film and who I totally adore but who is kind of scary opinionated about some things, didn't have quite the same reaction. She had nothing against the guys for being all crazy for each other. She just couldn't stand the idea that they had gotten married to women they didn't love, but who loved them and had their hearts broken. I guess I got so caught up in Heath and Jake and their lovely forbidden love that I didn't even think of that. Oh well. Anyhoo, I had read the novella before seeing the film and I think Ang Lee did a marvelous job of bringing E. Annie Proulx's story to the big screen. His lyrical, moody type of directing fit with her lyrical, moody kind of writing. This isn't exactly a movie I would watch over and over again every day (because the scene were Heath is smelling Jake's shirts and crying just rips my heart out) but I do think it is one of the great love stories of the last few decades. (By the way, I miss Heath Ledger. This just reminds me all over again of how tragic it is that he is gone and will never make another movie.)
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