Brokeback Mountain

(Note: This review refers to the Blu-ray version of the DVD.)

Ang Lee's screen adaptation of Annie Proulx's short story won Oscars for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay (Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana) and Best Score, but lost Best Picture to the didactic "Crash." This delicate and moving story of two cowboys (Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal) who fall in love in 1963 Montana is still a far superior film, as tender and heartbreaking a love story as you'll ever see. Both actors received Oscar nominations, Ledger for his almost mumbled performance as a cowboy who clenches all his feelings, Gyllenhaal for his rowdier, aggressive character who lashes out where Ledger holds it in. Michelle Williams also earned an Oscar nomination as Ledger's unfulfilled wife, and Anne Hathaway, Randy Quaid, Linda Cardellini and Anna Faris co-star. The cinematography is breathtaking and expressive, and Lee's direction is sensitive and delicate.

The Blu-ray edition includes all the featurettes from the DVD special edition. The 17-minute "A Groundbreaking Success" and the 11-minute "From Script to Screen: Interviews With Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana" are the most informative, while "Sharing the Story: The Making of Brokeback Mountain" is more of a promotional profile made for the Logo Network. Also includes featurettes on the actors, the director and the music.