BROKEN FLOWERS BRING BAREBACK COWBOYS
OR MAYBE APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS
SOMETHING LIKE THAT ANYWAY

After much anticipation, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN finally came to an accessible theatre to me and let's just say the wait was well worth it. After seeing the movie, it irks me that people focus on the sex or call it a "gay cowboy" movie because it was neither. It's a love story, pure and simple. And a heartbreaking one at that.

Heath Ledger is amazing as Enis. If he does not get an Oscar, it's a bloody shame. Jake G was good as well, but if you look at it from afar, Jake was good only because Heath made him good. ENis is one of the most amazing portrayals I have seen on the silver screen.

So we know the story by now. Jake and Heath go up on the mountain and fall in love, yada yada yada , but it is really so much more than that. Enis goes up on that mountain and discovers LIFE and it changes him forever.

Enis is trudging through his life in a fog. It's apparent by the way he keeps to himself, speaks in guttural grunts and avoids eye contact that he is tormented. He fully knows who he is, but this is Wyoming in 1963 and due to a life lesson learned as a young kid, he knows what happenes to gay people in the West. So, he does what is expected of him and has plans to get married and raise a bunch of younguns.

Jack's past is a little less detailed but you can assume he has had his share of gay cowpokes and one night stands, but when you bring a person to life like Enis, you can't help but fall in love.

Now let me just say the sex is overrated in this movie, but that's OK. Sex really is not an issue.

All of the actor's are amazing in this, especially Michelle Williams. Her reaction after four years of marriage when Enis is "reborn" is amazing and she deserves a supporting actress nod.

What follows after Brokeback Mountain is what pretty much what every gay couple since 1963 has discovered. The world really isn't too tolerant of your love so we see a "Same Time. Next Year" scenario between Jack and Enis where they live for the time they have together and falal into the "normal life" the rest of the time.

It's real. It's heartbreaking. It's an incredible movie.

* * * * * out of * * * * *

Next, through Netflix, we received the Bill Murray vehicle, BROKEN FLOWERS. In this, Murray plays the same role he played in RUSHMORE and LOST IN TRANSLATION, the middle aged man with money and finds that really brings him nothing as he really has no reason to live. But this role never gets old with Murray.

Does anyone play dissatisfied with life better than Murray? Seriously, no other actor can get so much out of a look or stare than Murray. He plays downtrodden so well and has really become a underappreciated actor.

In this scenario, Murray is the aging Don Juan and just went through his latest break up with barely a blink when he gets a mysterious pink letter. In it, it is revealed that he fathered a son 19 years ago and his son is looking for him. Burray, complacent, disregards his letter until his neighbor, living vicariously through Murray because he is trapped in surburbia with wife and kids, sets Murray up on a trip through his dating past to see who sent the letters.

Grudgingly, Murray sets off on his journey, complete with mapquest directions and a mix cd. It's a plodding and SOLITARY journey for Murray (consider it "Sideways" without the buddy comedy) who drops in unexpectedly on four former lovers (great cast w/ Jessica Lange, Sharon Stone, Frances Conroy). The results range from hilarious to uncomfortable, but Murray takes something from each stop in his journey.

The most uncomfortable thing is imagining Bill Murray sleeping with Ruth Fischer. AARRGGHH!!! Six Feet Under fans will relate.

And just remember, it's not the point of the journey, but the journey itself that can be life-changing.

* * * * out of * * * * *

Now most of the complaints I have seen on both of these movies concerns the PACING. Now seriously, are we so ADD of a society that something has to be constantly happening on the screen to keep our attention??? I remember how freaking incredible the movie HEAT was when I saw it and then saw no one saw it because they were scared away by the RUNNING TIME?

Some movies take 15 minutes to tell the story. Some take 3 and a half hours. As long as the characters are progressed, I could sit through a five hour movie with Kevin Spacey and Samuel Jackson....

Now I admit that a couple of times, I got annoyed with the pacing of BROKEN FLOWERS as it was SOOOO deliberate, but I get the point. This was the journey Murray had to take by himself but each glimpse of Murray provided nuance into his character.

But people saying that BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN was boring??? Come on??? IS it that, or do some people just have to bitch about SOMETHING???