OK, I know, what’s heterosexual guy like me doing seeing “Brokeback Mountain,” especially on a Sunday with football on TV?
Well, my defense is both Bay Area teams were out of the playoffs and I didn’t want to sit around the house by myself, so I went with Ramie and a couple of friends to see it.
It’s a very well-made movie, beautifully shot, with great acting. Ang Lee deserves credit (and an Oscar, maybe). All the critics are right, it’s one of the best movies of the year, on par with “Munich” and “The Constant Gardener,” at least among the movies I’ve seen.
There is, of course, the gay sex scenes, but aside from cringing a little, it wasn’t that bad. In fact, there may have been more heterosexual sex and female nudity in the movie.
At it’s heart, it is a love story — about gay cowboys. Many in the audience, including our friend Debby, cried at the ending. I doubt many guys would go out of their way to see “Brokeback” even if it didn’t have gay cowboys. It’s a chick flick with a twist.
The last movie I’ve seen usually lingers in my mind, so it’s been gay cowboys the past few days. Get me to another movie or the video store fast! Not that there’s anything wrong with being gay, or a cowboy, or both.