"There’s also no denying the emotional investment of its two leads: With their wildly different physiognomy, the large-featured, muppet-faced Gyllenhaal and the thin-lipped, beady-eyed Ledger make for a fascinatingly juxtaposed couple -- Jack’s yee-haw stabs at masculinity seem insufficient when pitted against Ennis’s
implosive self-abnegation. Ledger’s Ennis feels particularly lived-in, and his performance, a nicely modulated series of grimaces and hesitant smiles, keeps the film anchored in place, never letting it stray too far from its oppressive social landscape."