Friday, December 30, 2005

Movies opening this week

Brokeback Mountain (Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway, dir. Ang Lee)
My review in Las Vegas Weekly
I think the force of hype and expectations led to my mild disappointment in this movie. I still think it's a very well-made and often powerful film, but it had a certain distance to it that didn't completely grab me. There's more to this film than its actual content, of course, and for its social value I have nothing but praise. It's not pushy or preachy, but it doesn't flinch at telling a story that addresses real and important issues, and it does so with three-dimensional characters rather than archetypes, and puts their emotional arc ahead of any social commentary at all times. That's something I definitely admire. Opened limited Dec. 9; in Las Vegas this week

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