Brokeback Mountain *****

Brokeback Mountain is a poignant and emotional journey that examines a lifetime of denial and repression. Ennis (Heath Ledger), the strong silent type, meets wild Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) when they take a summer sheep herding job on Brokeback Mountain. On a night fueled by whiskey, they find a new way to "pass the time" and soon find themselves in love with each other. But this is a love that cannot be, so we see the two characters marry and have children and try and forget all about Brokeback Mountain, but they can not.

Heath Ledger delivers a spot on performance of a tough farmer/cowboy that would give the Marlboro man a run for his money. The physical mannerisms he changed for this role are so slight, but so effective, with his deep voiced mumbled words and tough as nails expression - he nearly reminded me of my grandfather. But what really makes this performance stand out is that he managed to give this character such vulnerability and such a tortured soul that you really really feel for him the whole way through the movie. I still have a few more contenders to see, but my bets are on Ledger for this year's Oscar.

Maybe it's just coincidental that this film is set in Wyoming where Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered in a hate crime, but the film is a poignant reminder of why there is a gay rights movement. The constant fear Jack and Ennis have that they will be taken out and murdered in some horrific way for being who they are, really drives home the realities of the time. As I saw this opening night with about every gay man and fag hag in the Chicago area (of course, being a theatre chic myself I felt right at home), it's pretty obvious that this film is already an important one for the gay community.

The beginning of the film seems a bit slow with nothing but beautiful cinematography and plenty of shots of the actors smoking on horses, but as the movie progresses you realize it's really not slow it's just set at a different pace of life. I wouldn't call this film a love story. I would say it's a film about heartbreak. The inability of Ennis to be who he truly is wears on him and through the years hollows him out until there is but a ghost of a man left. I guess Ennis sums it up best when he says "If you can't fix it, you gotta stand it." I can't stop thinking about this film. It's certainly one of the best films of the year, so believe the buzz it's generating - it's all true.

Syriana ***

Syriana is a well written, decently acted movie that ultimately fails to engage the audience. It is a stylish film that delves into the underbelly of corporate greed, the oil industry, corruption, and terrorism but it somehow manages to leave you unsullied. I think the fatal flaw of this film is that it is too ambitious, trying to show you the story from every possible angle, that you are never fully submerged in any character's story. Where the film did an excellent job was showing the transition of Pakistani oil worker Wasim (Mazhar Munir) from unemployment to a radical Islamic terrorist.

There are a lot of contrivances in this film that just bog it down without adding any real depth. There's a scene where CIA agent Bob Barnes (George Clooney)has lunch with his son and discuss his college choices and another where Bryan (Matt Damon) and his wife play with their kids over breakfast, ostensibly just so you can get that they're just "normal" people. Bennet Holiday (Jeffrey Wright) is saddled with an alcoholic father, that he's constantly having to go pick up after, that adds nothing to the story. Add to that the unrealistic tragedy that Matt Damon's family endures. There are just too many meaningless subplots in this movie that don't advance the story or make you feel for the characters.

The story itself is interesting enough, international intrigue, assassinations, corruption, but you don't find yourself rooting for anyone. It's taken me a few days and I still can't figure out if I really liked it or didn't. I started wondering if it isn't my own cynicism that kept me from being more shocked or outraged at what occurs in this film, but I realized I had equal knowledge of some of the things occurring in the Constant Gardener and found myself moved by that film. All in all, it's not a bad film but it's not a great film either.