BEFORE: I had a different order in mind, but I'm going to let actor-linking select the next film - Michelle Williams carries over from "Blue Valentine". Tonight I'm crossing another film off from the list of "1,001 Movies to See Before You Die" - my count on that list is now 302.
THE PLOT: The story of a forbidden and secretive relationship between two cowboys and their lives over the years.
AFTER: I try not to discriminate here at the Movie Year - disfunctional relationships of all kids are welcome this month, even ones between two men. There's no reason I should treat this film any differently than I did "Same Time, Next Year", right? Equal rights cuts both ways, no?
Actually a lot of attention was paid to this movie as a groundbreaking gay film, but I'm not sure that's even the right term - isn't "bisexual" more applicable? Both of the main characters were married to women, but apparently got something out of the relationship that they couldn't get in their marriages. (Keep it clean, keep it clean...) I'm not sure these characters identified as gay, either - they just kind of made up their own rules for the way they wanted things to be.
Jack and Ennis are two cowboys who meet while tending sheep - funny, they still call them "cowboys" when there are no cows around, shouldn't they be "sheepboys"? Damn, if only there were a word for people who herd sheep... But they all ride horses, why aren't they called "horseboys"?
Anyway, they take a job requiring them to work together, eat together, and spend long periods of time with no other human contact - oh, and the boss only gave them one tent. What did he THINK was going to happen? Hey, it gets cold (and boring) up there on the mountain at night.
I don't know what I expected, I thought there'd be more of a build-up - more kissing or something, and less punching. But what do I know about gay relationships? I barely understand straight ones...
When the boss finds out about their, umm, horseplay, the cowboys are not welcomed back at that job, so they find new work in different states. Jack goes back to the rodeo, and Ennis takes on various jobs, plus they both marry. But they still go on fishing trips together, they're just not the kind of fishing trips where any fish get caught. Jack's wife wonders why he has to drive 12 hours to go fishing, and Ennis' wife wonders why he makes her wear a cowboy hat in bed.
This goes on for years, the secret relationship that everyone seems to know about, on some level at least. Again, I've got nothing against gay relationships, as long as no one gets hurt, but I've got a problem with deception, and if you marry one person and sleep with another, someone's bound to get hurt. Still, back in the 1960's, what choices did a bisexual man have? Still again, couldn't they have made better choices than the ones that they did? Aggh, this is a maddening debate.
The scenery is gorgeous, the characters are complex, and the story is emotional, and I'll leave it at that. But here's the problem with our system, gay or straight - if you make one genuine, honest, loving connection with someone that turns into a long-term relationship, you've beaten the odds. If you manage during your lifetime to make TWO such genuine connections, you're incredibly lucky. But if those connections happen at the same time, or the relationships overlap, you're in for trouble.
Also starring Heath Ledger (last seen in "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus"), Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway (last seen in "Les Miserables"), Randy Quaid, with cameos from Anna Faris, Linda Cardellini, Kate Mara.
RATING: 5 out of 10 campfires
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