Reply #20: compare ledger's physicallity in this film and others.

[xchrom]

from the way he held his mouth to the change from a shuffling walk in some scene's{especially in the later scenes} to the stride in others -- he brought ennis home to live in his body -- a distinct difference from his ''body''.

what i loved was the acting was nuanced -- i was able to suspend my disbelief -- for both characters.

which is what you pay all that money for.

gyllenhall was good -- no doubt about it -- but in many ways the script wasn't written to ask him to do the reach that ledger needed to do for ennis.

the physical change that gyllenhall was called to make wasn't that big -- it might have been considerably different if they had made him more buck tooth as he is written in the book.
too, between them -- jack is a more genial, likeable, approachable character compared to ennis.
you know what jack is going to do -- it's ennis who keeps you wondering

but if you stop and think about it -- gyllenhall must have been really, really good -- cause no way could ledger have done his job right if he hadn't been.

then you get into all psychological aspects to the job of acting -- yada yada --