Eventually, for some strange and SUDDEN reason, the two cowpokes pull a Zigfreid and Roy and spend the herding season running around humping each other, giddy like schoolgirls.

The job is over, and they don't see each other for four years. Meanwhile, they are both married and both have children. When they finally see each other, the love-fest is on once again. Eventually, rather than admit to themselves that they like other men, or cowboys maybe, they decide to revel in their "love" three times a year, basking in infidelity and the high altitude wonders of the Wyoming mountain ranges over another 16 years.

In the end, the movie says if you're gay, come out of the closet or you will be miserable for the rest of your life. AND, if you come out of the closet anywhere in the country where gay people are the victims of hate crimes, than for f**k sake…MOVE.

There greatest achievement by this picture and this director Ang Lee (Sense and Sensibility, The Hulk) is the performances from every actor captured on film.

Ledger leads this cast with fireworks going off behind him--I say that metaphorically and literally, since there's a shot in the movie where that actually happens. I don't think we'll see Ledger do better than this movie for a long time.

Gyllenhaal is also borderline great as Ledger's "catcher." Anne Hathaway and Kimberly Williams were also great as their respective wives. Everyone in this picture did exceptional, and I credit Ang Lee for it.

Here's why I credit Lee; I have read the short story of gay cowboy love--a phrase Brian invented, which I use affectionately before everyone starts calling me a homophobe, and I was exceptionally confused by the material which this screenplay was based on.

However, everyone in the movie appeared to know exactly where their characters were coming from and what was going on inside. That may be the case for a couple of well trained actors, but for an entire cast to sink their teeth into THIS material is a HUGE credit to the director getting EVERYONE on the same page.

The worst part of this picture was the writing. The original story, the screenplay and all points in between confused me. I never got that Ennis and Jack were actually in love. That was the challenge of the film and I thought it failed.

I also have a problem thinking two men could sustain a long distance relationship over 16 years using only postcards and as the character of Jack puts it " a couple of high altitude f**ks a year." 16 YEARS for crying out loud. I think one, probably Jack, would have thrown in the towel and found some other cowboy to be happy with.

The movie eventually leads you to believe Jack decided just that, but I think it would have happen a long time before. I believe in love at first sight, but sustaining THAT kind of love without hardly seeing or speaking to one another I DO NOT believe.

The other problem with the movie I have is the length. The picture runs over 2 hours, when it only took me an hour an 20 minutes to read the story. The pacing of the picture is SO SLOW. I'm not sure if this was to represent the pace of life in Wyoming, but it sure made watching the movie that much more painful. The opening shot alone nearly had me in a coma.

I didn't have a problem with the only actual sex scene between Ennis and Jack. Nothing was shown, but it was two guys allowing their lust to take over, so I will call the scene graphic, or maybe ROUGH is a better description. After that, it was shirts off and some kissing between the two actors. The only reason I even mention this is cause a lot of people have come up to me and asked if the movie shows them having sex, so there's the answer.

The movie is weak. The acting is strong. And the hype is totally unnecessary. I get the sense people are thinking this is SUCH a great movie because they are consistently being TOLD it's such a great movie when it isn't. I can't see how someone read this story by Anne Proulx (The Shipping News) and said to him or herself, "You know what? This would make an excellent movie." Bulls**t. It's crap, but pretty.

The cinematography of this picture is also very pretty, but you would have to be a ridiculous DP to not make a bunch of mountainsides look pretty.

Overall, unless you're the kind of person who needs to come out of the closet, this film won't say much to you. If you blindly love love stories, this will be good. If you're someone who needs reasoning for people's actions, this film will bore you to tears.

DO NOT see this movie because everyone says it's great. It IS NOT! Spread the word. There is FINALLY a critic out there, being myself, who liberally accepts homosexual people and lifestyles, actually thinks "Brokeback Mountain" is worth skipping.

The only thing I really enjoyed about seeing this movie in the cinema was seeing the amount of strait guys, who weren't with a date, walking into the theater with their heads down, trying not to be recognized and sitting as far away from other guys as possible. You couldn't find three seats together because of the way strait guys filed in and sat so far apart. It was very funny.