Reply #14: I admit I haven't seen the movie, but I find his criticisms misplaced....

[Rowdyboy]

This is a period piece in a peculiar setting with two young men overwhelmed by something bigger than both of them. The short story was beautiful and I have a hard time believing that Ang Lee would screw it up when translating to the big screen.

The critic wants a story about mutual, longlasting love in a problem free world where gays are considered equal just different. That world didn't exist then and it doesn't exist now. His story would have no drama. "Brokeback" does. He sounds as though he wants them to sit around reading Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman to each other. That would not fit the characters as written.

I don't expect it to be the forerunner of a cosmic shift. I don't see it as even a particularly important cultural indicator. I do think its probably an exceptional movie and I fully intend to see it ASAP

Lastly, author Annie Proulx said that Heath Ledger interpreted Ennis brilliantly, and seemed to have a deeper understanding of the character than did she. When an author says something like that, it says far more than some minor movie critic with a chip on his shoulder.