Brokeback Revisted

I've been railing on this movie for all the awards and gushing it has received when, to me, it seems like just an OK movie. I've been hearing and reading a lot more about it recently and so I've decided to add a bit more.

A movie should stand on it's own merits. I shouldn't have to think about it for weeks or read about it or listen to speeches about it in order to enjoy it. I enjoy it more today, after all this post-viewing exposure, than I did right after I watched it.

It's about living in a certain place and having certain feelings that aren't compatible with that place. It's about love and it's own impossibilities. It's about happiness.

But the movie didn't make me feel these things strongly enough for me to feel, rather than just know that's what it was about.

It just didn't connect with me on an emotional level. Only at the end, when he goes into the other guy's house, did I feel anything (compassion and sadness) for them. I understand it's hard when one of the characters is innately quiet and non-expressive—this makes it tough to get emotions across to the viewer.

But still.

Yes it's a good movie. Does it deserve all the hoopla and awards it may get? I still don't think so.