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Brokeback Mountain Review

Movies.com Critics

5.0

Dave White Profile

… heartbreaking … Read full review

Other Critics provided by Metacritic.com

Critics scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 5.0
    87

    out of 100

    Metascore®
    Universal acclaim
    based on a weighted average of all
    critic review scores.

  • 100

    out of 100

    Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

    Brokeback Mountain has been described as "a gay cowboy movie," which is a cruel simplification. It is the story of a time and place where two men are forced to deny the only great passion either one will ever feel. Their tragedy is universal.

    Read Full Review

  • 100

    out of 100

    Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

    Confidently directed by Ang Lee and featuring sensitive and powerful performances by Jake Gyllenhaal and a breathtaking Heath Ledger, this film is determined to involve us in the naturalness and even inevitability of its epic, complicated love story.

    Read Full Review

  • 100

    out of 100

    The New York Times Stephen Holden

    Mr. Ledger magically and mysteriously disappears beneath the skin of his lean, sinewy character. It is a great screen performance, as good as the best of Marlon Brando and Sean Penn.

    Read Full Review

  • 100

    out of 100

    Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

    Brokeback Mountain is that rare thing, a big Hollywood weeper with a beautiful ache at its center. It's a modern-age Western that turns into a quietly revolutionary love story.

    Read Full Review

  • 100

    out of 100

    USA Today Mike Clark

    It's a heart-wrenching portrayal of unfulfilled Wyoming love, but this time, we don't mean Alan Ladd and Jean Arthur in "Shane."

    Read Full Review

  • 100

    out of 100

    The Hollywood Reporter Ray Bennett

    Anne Proulx's 1997 short story in the New Yorker has been masterfully expanded by screenwriters Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana to provide director Lee with his best movie since "Sense and Sensibility" in 1995.

    Read Full Review

  • 100

    out of 100

    Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

    Brokeback Mountain aspires to an epic sweep and achieves it, though with singular intimacy and grace.

  • 80

    out of 100

    Variety Todd McCarthy

    This ostensible gay Western is marked by a heightened degree of sensitivity and tact, as well as an outstanding performance from Heath Ledger.

    Read Full Review

  • See all Brokeback Mountain reviews at Metacritic.com

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For Families provided by Common Sense Media

Iffy for 16+

Mature, emotionally complex film isn't for kids.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this is a mature, emotionally complicated film that isn't appropriate for kids. The movie is focused on a lifelong relationship between two male cowboys. Their meeting and discovery of mutual desire at film's start is pictured in a rough-seeming sex scene (with fairly explicit activity); from then on, their physical relationship is less overt. They argue, wrestle, and occasionally come to sexual-tension-filled blows. Characters curse (including use of "f--k" and homophobic slang), smoke, and drink hard liquor in a "manly" manner. Married couples also argue, as wives come to resent their husbands' "other" interests.

  • Families can talk about the film's treatment of Jack and Ennis' relationship. How do their lying and betrayal affect their wives and children? Also, families can talk about whether or not it was "brave" for Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger to take their roles.

The good stuff
  • message true-1

    Messages: Characters struggle with homophobia (internalized and directed at them).

What to watch for
  • violence false5

    Violence: Sexual tension and homophobia lead to fights; a father describes for his son a terrible murder of a gay man; a scene near the end shows a character's beating death at the hands of brutal homophobes.

  • sex false5

    Sex: Gay cowboys' first encounter is rough and surprising to both; later trysts are more poetic, and mostly offscreen.

  • language false3

    Language: Cowboy talk, including slang (derogatory for "homosexual", genitals, and sex acts) and cursing (f-word).

  • consumerism false-1

    Consumerism: Tobacco and canned foods show labels.

  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3

    Drinking, drugs and smoking: Drinking, cigarette rolling and smoking; a brief scene where characters smoke a joint.

An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology.

© Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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Fan Reviews provided by

Average Rating: 3.625
Read all reviews Write a review at Fandango
5

Incredibly touching by Punk_Kanellis
Brokeback Mountain is such a touching movie, it will leave you in tears. People cliché it as a ?gay cowboy movie?, but it?s so much more than that. What is so great about Brokeback Mountain, is that love like this is happening all over the world, but there has never been a movie that represents that love, so I think it was extremely brave of Ang Lee to do this. Jake Gyllenhaal took the spotlight as Jack Twist, or ?Jack Nasty?. Jake?s acting was off the charts. You could see his passion and his struggles; bravo to him. Heath Ledger played Ennis Del Mar. I think for the character he did a great job, but the clenched-jaw thing began to annoy me halfway through (not to mention, you could here his Austrailian accent poke through a couple of times, but all great actors struggle with concealing accents); his character is supposed to be a tight, clenched person so it worked well. Anne Hathaway… well she?s always amazing; and Michelle Williams played the role of scared wife well.

5

Brokeback Mountain Movie Review by Asianfreak
88 out of 100 For myself, I'm not homophobic but watching this film makes the tears drop. It has a beautiful script, excellent acting, powerful conclusions. But I do recommend closing your eyes during the love parts, it's just a little disturbing. "Brokeback Mountain" is more than a gay cowboy movie, it's a standing saga of moving poetry.

4

Brokeback Mountain review by Therumrunner5
Theater

4

by emptylocket

Read all Brokeback Mountain reviews at Fandango
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