movie review from a crazy bint... OH NOES
This movie wins for screenplay, cinematography and acting, period. And is there really anything else?
Watching a small bit of the "making of" extra afterwards, I was very very glad NOT to have seen any interviews or "visual reviews" of the movie beforehand. Sure, the actors and director go on and on about how groundbreaking it all is and how great it turned out (while they play old cliche soundbites of Heath and Jake's characters exchanging loving/angsty lines). If you've seen some kind of TV special for this movie, you would totally write it off as a "gay cowboy" thing, quite simply.
But there's so much more than that.
You must see this movie with no expectations, and prepare to be blown away.
There was some footage that was so perfect and natural and beautifully shot I thought it would have made a powerful photograph.
The script flows so easily there is never a break in the story. More than halfway through the movie I thought "holy crap- i can't find anything bad about this script". very rare in a movie these days, you see.
Round this up with some totally believable characters that you can empathize with, love with and cry with and you have a really friggin good romantic movie. And it goes without saying that Jake and Heath give flawless performances.
However- my one and only complaint could be that the "old age" makeup on them is pretty fuckin scary.
But what kind of love story is this? Not just a gay one, that's for sure. It's got the passion and recklessness of young love with the longing and agony of forbidden love. What do we want from love? When is it unattainable? How much can we possibly do?
It's so complex it can rule our lives or ruin them. In the end, when it comes to true love it's all or nothing. But this is stating the obvious, isn't it? Maybe the movie is too- but goddamn it didn't stop me from crying.
All in all, i secretly assign it a whole bunch of stars because the hype was actually true this time.