Gay-themed 'Brokeback Mountain' celebrates the diversity in human nature

After the flop of "Alexander" -- which its director, Oliver Stone, attributed to the fact that America was "not ready to accept a romance between two men" -- the assumption was it might be a very long time before we saw another gay love story aimed at a mainstream audience.

MOVIE REVIEW

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

DIRECTOR: Ang Lee
CAST: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal
RUNNING TIME: 134 minutes
RATING: R for sexuality, nudity, language and some violence
GRADE: A-

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But here we are a year later with Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain," which is exactly that. In fact, it's by far the most uncompromising and unapologetic gay-themed drama ever made for a wide release by a major Hollywood studio with name stars.

And if that mainstream audience can be lured into the theaters, it should be that breakthrough gay film that has long seemed just around the corner:

It's so poignant and unthreatening that its crossover appeal to women and straight men should be very strong.

Expanded from a very short New Yorker story by Annie Proulx, it's the saga of two cowboys -- Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) -- who meet in the winter of 1963 when they're hired to look after some sheep in a lonely outpost of the Wyoming wilderness.

Both are macho to a fault, but during one cold evening while huddling together for warmth they stumble into a sexual act. Embarrassed and ashamed, they try to toss it off as a fluke, but when the season is over and months and even years pass, they can't forget one another.

Eventually, they meet again and give way to a passion that's regularly recharged in a yearly rendezvous that they explain to their families (both have wives) as "hunting trips," which they continue over a period of almost 20 years.

The movie does have one flaw: It doesn't have that one powerful scene of all great movie love stories in which we glimpse what the lovers give each other emotionally or intellectually: the nonsexual element of the bond. So we have to assume the attraction is entirely physical.

Yet, though this seems a serious oversight, the script otherwise sparkles with deeply human moments, unexpected revelations of character and the kind of laidback western authenticity that could only come from co-screenwriter Larry McMurtry ("Lonesome Dove," "Hud").

Director Lee, making a comeback from his "Hulk" fiasco and returning to his first gay-themed story since "The Wedding Banquet," gives the script all the skill, sensitivity and shrewd originality that made him the art-house phenomenon of the '90s.

And his movie comes together to be more than the sum of its parts, not just a plea for gay tolerance but a powerful transcendent vision that celebrates the amazing diversity of human nature and hidden potential for love in even the most unlikely places.

Gyllenhaal, topping a busy year that also saw him playing more passive characters in "Proof" and "Jarhead," is surprisingly good in the role of the more self-accepting and tragic of the pair. It's far and away the best thing he's done on film.

But the real acting honors go to Ledger. His character is much more laconic, self-contained and folksy in the McMurtry tradition, yet he communicates an inner pathos that's uniquely, profoundly touching. It's the year's most haunting and unforgettable performance.

P-I movie critic William Arnold can be reached at 206-448-8185 or williamarnold@seattlepi.com.

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