Chulo
12-09-2005, 08:25 AM
Cowboy romance 'Brokeback' faces challenge By Bob Tourtellotte Thu Dec 8, 2:56 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (*******) - It has wowed film festivals, won rave reviews and sparked Oscar buzz, but when "Brokeback Mountain," a.k.a. the gay cowboy movie, begins playing to general audiences on Friday, it faces its toughest challenge yet -- wooing mainstream America. Two of Hollywood's hottest leading men, Jake Gyllenhaal (http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Jake+Gyllenhaal) and Heath Ledger (http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Heath+Ledger), risk alienating fans and sending their stars plummeting if, after watching the pair have *** on screen, audiences cannot see them any other way than gay.
Winning over middle America is important for the roughly $12.5 million movie because its backer, art house specialist Focus Features, wants a big box office and wider exposure for the film's themes of love, friendship and family ties.
Two other films built around gay subjects this season, "Transamerica" and "Breakfast on Pluto," have gained critical attention but they have less at stake in terms of costs and star power.
Gyllenhaal and Ledger say they are less concerned about their futures than the film's, which was directed by Ang Lee (http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Ang+Lee) and based on Annie Proulx's story about two cowboys who meet in 1963 wrangling sheep in Wyoming and form a bond that transcends time and transforms their lives.
Ledger, 26, said he was both anxious and curious to see whether audiences will view the movie as a gay romance or, as its makers want, simply a romance.
"I have my hopes held high in terms of the level of maturity in today's society," he said. "I think people are a lot smarter than we are giving them credit for being."
Gyllenhaal, who turns 25 this month, added in a separate interview: "The issues are much bigger than ******ity."
Both said their decisions to take the roles were spurred by the desire to work with Lee, director of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," because he would treat the material with humanity.
COWBOYS OUT OF CLOSET?
Ledger, whose career has suffered from several recent flops, also said the role gave him the opportunity to mature. "If you just be safe about the choices you make, you don't grow," he said.
European audiences got their first look at "Brokeback" at September's Venice Film Festival in Italy where it won the Golden Lion prize for best film. The movie also wowed audiences at September's Toronto International Film Festival.
Critics have raved. Roger Ebert told *******: "Brokeback will become the kind of movie that you hear about at dinner parties that you feel you have to go see."
There is Oscar talk for best movie; Lee for best director and Ledger for best actor.
All the acclaim has created a strong early buzz.
"Brokeback" starts in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco on Friday, then expands to 23 U.S. cities on December 16. It will add theaters after a few weeks based on audience demand.
But many industry watchers are skeptical of its crossover potential in a country divided into conservative states mostly in mid-America and the South and liberal states on the coasts.
"The general public has proven over and over again that it will reward great movies with strong sales," said John Barker, president of DZP Marketing Communications.
"(But) we should probably recognize there are some areas and some groups that will oppose this film."
So far, however, "Brokeback" has not sparked any protests at advanced screenings, and there is some statistical support that there may growing tolerance for gay lifestyles.
In August, the Pew Research Center released a poll showing 53 percent of Americans supported gay civil unions, up from 48 percent one year earlier when the topic of gay marriage was roiling the U.S. presidential election.
There is precedent for a solid box office, too. Although mainly about an AIDS (http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=AIDS) sufferer, 1993's "Philadelphia" brought in $77 million in North America and earned an Oscar for Tom Hanks (http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Tom+Hanks). And now, like a rodeo rider waiting in the chute to tame a bucking Bronco, "Brokeback Mountain," is ready to roll out.
they should call it BareBack mountain.. just when we though we got rid of Jack.. he comes along with swinging gay cowboys!
LOS ANGELES (*******) - It has wowed film festivals, won rave reviews and sparked Oscar buzz, but when "Brokeback Mountain," a.k.a. the gay cowboy movie, begins playing to general audiences on Friday, it faces its toughest challenge yet -- wooing mainstream America. Two of Hollywood's hottest leading men, Jake Gyllenhaal (http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Jake+Gyllenhaal) and Heath Ledger (http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Heath+Ledger), risk alienating fans and sending their stars plummeting if, after watching the pair have *** on screen, audiences cannot see them any other way than gay.
Winning over middle America is important for the roughly $12.5 million movie because its backer, art house specialist Focus Features, wants a big box office and wider exposure for the film's themes of love, friendship and family ties.
Two other films built around gay subjects this season, "Transamerica" and "Breakfast on Pluto," have gained critical attention but they have less at stake in terms of costs and star power.
Gyllenhaal and Ledger say they are less concerned about their futures than the film's, which was directed by Ang Lee (http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Ang+Lee) and based on Annie Proulx's story about two cowboys who meet in 1963 wrangling sheep in Wyoming and form a bond that transcends time and transforms their lives.
Ledger, 26, said he was both anxious and curious to see whether audiences will view the movie as a gay romance or, as its makers want, simply a romance.
"I have my hopes held high in terms of the level of maturity in today's society," he said. "I think people are a lot smarter than we are giving them credit for being."
Gyllenhaal, who turns 25 this month, added in a separate interview: "The issues are much bigger than ******ity."
Both said their decisions to take the roles were spurred by the desire to work with Lee, director of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," because he would treat the material with humanity.
COWBOYS OUT OF CLOSET?
Ledger, whose career has suffered from several recent flops, also said the role gave him the opportunity to mature. "If you just be safe about the choices you make, you don't grow," he said.
European audiences got their first look at "Brokeback" at September's Venice Film Festival in Italy where it won the Golden Lion prize for best film. The movie also wowed audiences at September's Toronto International Film Festival.
Critics have raved. Roger Ebert told *******: "Brokeback will become the kind of movie that you hear about at dinner parties that you feel you have to go see."
There is Oscar talk for best movie; Lee for best director and Ledger for best actor.
All the acclaim has created a strong early buzz.
"Brokeback" starts in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco on Friday, then expands to 23 U.S. cities on December 16. It will add theaters after a few weeks based on audience demand.
But many industry watchers are skeptical of its crossover potential in a country divided into conservative states mostly in mid-America and the South and liberal states on the coasts.
"The general public has proven over and over again that it will reward great movies with strong sales," said John Barker, president of DZP Marketing Communications.
"(But) we should probably recognize there are some areas and some groups that will oppose this film."
So far, however, "Brokeback" has not sparked any protests at advanced screenings, and there is some statistical support that there may growing tolerance for gay lifestyles.
In August, the Pew Research Center released a poll showing 53 percent of Americans supported gay civil unions, up from 48 percent one year earlier when the topic of gay marriage was roiling the U.S. presidential election.
There is precedent for a solid box office, too. Although mainly about an AIDS (http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=AIDS) sufferer, 1993's "Philadelphia" brought in $77 million in North America and earned an Oscar for Tom Hanks (http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Tom+Hanks). And now, like a rodeo rider waiting in the chute to tame a bucking Bronco, "Brokeback Mountain," is ready to roll out.
they should call it BareBack mountain.. just when we though we got rid of Jack.. he comes along with swinging gay cowboys!