134 minutes
Selected cast credits · Film reference
Ebert gives four stars and praises the film’s close observation of its two men as making the specific universal.
The quit-you confrontation and opening are the principal final choices; several other scenes are praised.
The actors’ youth is chosen over the film’s once-controversial subject matter.
Paul Meskell, Adam Scott and Josh O Connor illustrate modern possibilities; Mike Feist is floated while Tom Holland lacks the required physicality.
The enduring score, title spoken onscreen and quiet Western-adjacent landscapes are praised.
The final shirts-and-road composition is praised and compared with an observed Magnificent Obsession ending, with the comparison’s film identity unverified.
The cooked elk, beans and jerky are offered; the transition to meat looks appetizing and beans prompt a personal defense.
De Niro in Goodfellas is the unique10 benchmark, Cole Hauser’s Goodwill Hunt entrance about9.7, and Ledger9.5 for convincing cigarette handling.
Sweet Melissa is one choice; the score entering after Jack, I swear is another.
The public reunion kiss seems implausibly reckless, but years of repressed longing explain the loss of control.
Mara and Ledger are only four years apart, and insufficient aging makes the daughter appear like a new girlfriend.
No overacting nominee is offered; the acting is considered strong.
A dog would improve lonely Ennis’s life and provide companionship beyond the distant relationship.
Flex pick · Wesley Morris
Ledger could have two of the top six or seven male performances this century: Joker is automatic, and Ennis has a strong case against a flexible field of examples.
Van Sant wanted Damon as Ennis; Damon cites the sequence of Ripley and All the Pretty Horses. Hartnett and Phoenix are mentioned, with Phoenix reportedly denying an offer and saying he would have accepted.
David Harbor wins as someone who was recognizable before Stranger Things made him widely named.
Ledger’s distinct performances in10 Things, A Knight’s Tale, Brokeback and Dark Knight make the actor disappear.
Flex pick · Craig Horlbeck
Williams reportedly asked the leads to kiss in front of her to find Alma’s emotional state and pushed them beyond halfhearted attempts.
The tent scene reportedly took13 takes and used the13th.
Ledger’s living-career apex and Lee’s creative freedom are placed here; Gyllenhaal’s comes later around End of Watch and Prisoners.
Cruise could be an excellent Jack, though he is thought unlikely to accept it in any era; Pacino and Cazale are earlier hypothetical possibilities.
Spielberg is the obvious choice, but Scorsese attempting this kind of romance is intriguing, with Age of Innocence as a precedent.
Quaid’s character is the agreed role.
Months of beans and a supposedly newborn baby looking four months old are criticized.
Sam Jackson is imagined as the cabin man or a nearby fisherman; Doris Burke could narrate the sheep work.
Best Picture is chosen to honor everyone, with Ledger, Lee and the already-winning score considered.
Jack’s possible new relationship raises jealousy questions, but Ennis alone visits the parents and offers to take the ashes.
Follow your heart and accept being in love are offered; enduring what cannot be fixed is admired, while needing nothing because one has nothing is rejected as defeatist.
Heath Ledger wins; Ang Lee acknowledged.
The invited producer and his wife loved their first viewing; the ending is his favorite and Jack, I swear is beautifully vague.
Chemistry is essential; an alternate2005 version with Ashton Coucher and Orlando Bloom is imagined.
