 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Brokeback Mountain
- Review Date: April 2, 2006
- R
- Genre: Drama
- 2005
Common Sense Media says
Mature, emotionally complex film isn't for kids.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this is a mature, emotionally complicated film that isn't appropriate for kids. The movie is focused on a lifelong relationship between two male cowboys. Their meeting and discovery of mutual desire at film's start is pictured in a rough-seeming sex scene (with fairly explicit activity); from then on, their physical relationship is less overt. They argue, wrestle, and occasionally come to sexual-tension-filled blows. Characters curse (including use of "f--k" and homophobic slang), smoke, and drink hard liquor in a "manly" manner. Married couples also argue, as wives come to resent their husbands' "other" interests.
What's the story?
When cowboys Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) meet during a month of sheep ranching in Wyoming, they share lust, passion, and genuine affection -- though in 1963, they can't imagine their feelings defining themselves. Their silence lasts for years: Each goes home, Ennis marries his girlfriend Alma (Michelle Williams), Jack longs for Ennis. They agree to meet again and then feel unable to stop. They can't articulate their feelings, only marvel at their own passion and tell their families they have gone "fishing." Alma discovers the truth (which she keeps to herself); horrified and angry, she silently watches him leave every few months and return with no fish. The men can't acknowledge their relationship as a choice and a commitment, only as a "thing."
Is it any good?
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN is a thoughtful, lyrical, eventually frustrating examination of two men's romance over many years. Though Ennis and Jack never call themselves "gay" or "queer," they do love each other and share a sexual relationship. The film is as much about silence and repression as it is about passion. It's Alma's silence that makes the film feel so serious. Her pain is neither exquisite nor elegiac. It's only hard. As soon as she sees the men embrace, Alma becomes the tragic bearer of knowledge.
Ennis' lack of language, initially clench-jawed mumbling, is eventually subtler, especially in his relationship with his daughter, Alma Jr. (at 19, played by Kate Mara). She observes her father closely and does her best to keep him from taking up -- after his divorce from her mom -- with a perky barmaid. "You don't say much," notes the girlfriend as the two sit together at a table, watching Ennis lean over jukebox. "But you get your point across."Brokeback Mountain gets its point across, too: The men are anguished. They act on their pain in different ways, and the big wide Wyoming landscape -- so mighty, so simple, so overwhelming -- reflects their efforts to be together, to stay apart, to resist expectations and to succumb to them.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the film's treatment of Jack and Ennis' relationship. How do their lying and betrayal affect their wives and children? Also, families can talk about whether or not it was "brave" for Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger to take their roles.
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AGE
Fine for Teenagers
If your child WANTS to see Brokeback Mountain, they are probably old enough to see it. It's not like some movies; they don't want to see it because of the hot chicks or the cool fight scenes or because everyone else is seeing it.
Sometimes, I find this site slightly offensive. Anything with even the slightest thing in it homosexual (the single kiss in the BULLY games) is immediately listed as something the parents should watch out for.
You don't want your kids to know gay people exist? You would a toddle see a man-woman kiss, what's the difference?
You can't shelter your kids from gay people. It's impossible, short of raising them in Amish Town.
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AGE
Kids who understand sex and homosexuality.
This movie isn't as vulgar as it is made out to be. It's not full of gay sex, not even conversations of gay sex. There is only one sex scene between the two men (there are actually two sex scenes involving a man and a women and another scene of foreplay between a man and a women, the women being topless), and it isn't even that explicit. You see no male nudity, only women's breasts. The two men only kiss three of four times. The movie is about the love these men share, and how it affects their lives. Don't think this is some soft core porno. It is a romantic drama. Nothing more, nothing less. It really shows how gays are discriminated against, and how it affects them.
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AGE
A new perspective love story
This is a great movie to open people's minds and hearts! The cinematography is outstanding and the story is captivating and endearing.
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AGE
Touching and Powerful...
This movie was visually stunning. The story was phenomenal and realistic. This was the saddest story I have ever witnessed. I cried. Brokeback Mountain is a incredible movie.
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AGE
Teaches kids to care - better than violent crap
I would take my kids, ages 10-17, to see Brokeback Mountain in a heartbeat. It would teach them to be compassionate human beings, just like God wants them to be. On the other hand, I am still mad that there was 30 minutes of beheading and killing in the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which I wish I hadn't taken them to see.
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AGE
A MUST see
For months and months I saw the trailer for this movie on TV. I was devastated when it didnt come out in my hometown right away. Then, finally, it came out and i couldn't wait to see it. I rushed to the closest theatre playing it and bought a ticket. The movie was everything I had hoped for and more. It made me laugh, made me cry, made me angry, and most of all, it made me think. Yes, it is a movie about "gay cowboys" but that is a cruel simplification. Moreover, it is a devastating love story. It tore my heart into pieces seeing these two PEOPLE in love, and them not being able to be together. It made me sick seeing the prejudice and hate that people have for other human beings. Everytime they had to leave each other, my heart broke over and over again. I know this is a story that I will carry in my heart all my life and I hope everyone who has a chance to see it will. It will change your life.
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AGE
This is an important movie for all teens to read
Yes it may not be for some people, but it has important issues, Teens and Adults alike, need to know. I find that there was only really one sex scene, and it wasn't that graphic. Also it shows what it was likke forn people who were Gay or Bisexual. I find it touching, but issues we need to know. Im not trying to say let you 5,7, or 10 year olds to watch it. Im just trying to say, that our country is still predjudas, against same-sex relationships.
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AGE
good for mature teens
i love this movie so much! i watched it when i was about 11 or 12 and i didn't fully understand it. i watched it just now at the age of 13 and i understood it and could really handle it. i am more mature than average kids my age, but i think that this movie is doable for a young teenage audience.
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| Studio: | Focus Features |
| Director: | Ang Lee |
| Cast: | Anne Hathaway, Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal |
| Genre: | Drama |
| Run time: | 134 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | December 9, 2005 |
| DVD release date: | April 4, 2006 |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | sexuality, nudity, language and some violence. |
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