“I watched this the other day for the blog, and lazily didn’t write it up at the time. Now, I’m struggling to find things to say.
This is one of the more recent best picture controversies. There was a strong push of people who supported Brokeback as best picture, but given it’s subject matter, it lost out. Had this come out a few years later, it likely wouldn’t have had such an uphill battle. Then again, this movie is part of why the landscape started changing in regards to acceptance of homosexual relationships.
Gay or straight, it is just a beautiful and romantic film. Romance is not usually the sort of thing I go for, but given the strong cast and the beautifully simplistic plot, I do really respect it. And it’s so much more poignant in the wake of Heath Ledger’s death a few years later. I feel it adds a level of sadness to his already tragic character. It’s certainly a film that should be remembered for the ages, much more so than the trite Crash that beat it out for the Academy win that year.”