Year: 2005 Rated R Genre: Gay, Romance, Short Story-to-Movie, Western Language: English Runtime: 2:14:00 Director: Ang Lee ★ Main Cast: Heath Ledger ☆, Jake Gyllenhaal ☆, Michelle Williams ☆, Anne Hathaway, Kate Mara, Randy Quaid, Linda Cardellini, Anna Faris, David Harbour
Notable Mentions: Heath Ledger as Ennis Del Mar, Michelle Williams as Alma Beers Del Mar
❊ ❊ ❊ ❊ ❊
Heath Ledger deserves an Oscar for his performance in this film. What a talent, gone too soon. From Ennis Del Mar, a complex man with intricate emotions of sadness, anger, shame, fear and longing to his most iconic role, the Joker, who was just outright crazy, Heath Ledger demonstrated incredible range in his acting ability.
Michelle Williams held her own. While Michelle is a well rounded actress, she particularly excels in drama. Throughout her career, Michelle has been nominated for four Oscars for her performances in this film, Blue Valentine, My Week with Marilyn and Manchester by the Sea. There is a similarity between her characters in this film, Blue Valentine and Manchester by the Sea. They scream and cry a lot. Michelle's forte.
Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal just didn't do it for me. There are films I love Anne in. And then there are films where she feels like a filler. This is not her best performance, partly due to her character. She is just less complex. There is limited room for her to show off what she's capable of. Her most memorable scene was when she broke the news to Ennis about Jack's death. Even that scene, I credit its excellence to Ang Lee, who directed Anne to act the scene two ways. For the first take, Anne acted as if she didn't know about Jack's sexuality. For the second take, Anne acted as if she knew. The two takes were mashed together for the final edit of the film, creating this ambiguous scene that's up for interpretation of the audience.
Jake Gyllenhaal was the weakest link for me. His acting felt flat next to Heath. Heath's Ennis was tender and layered. Jake's acting lacked the same sophistication.
Overall, collectively, the cast did a great job. The script was also very well written.
