James Williams

In my heart, this was the best picture of that year. That's not a particularly objective opinion, I've been too close to the theme one time too many, and at the end I cried for myself as much as for Jack and Ennis. But I also cried for their wives, brilliantly played by Anne Hathaway and Michelle Williams. Most of us-gay or straight- have been in just that position at least once in our lives. Who hasn't gotten the romantic short end of the stick? Afterwards I read Annie Proulx's short story on which the film is based and the monk-like sparsity of the film starts there, beautifully captured by Ang Lee's no-nonsense direction. I did not think of this as a chick-flick or even a gay movie. It was a profound depiction of human conditions and foibles. I will love Jack and Ennis and their Eden on Brokeback Mountain until I die.