Ennis/Jack/both; book/movie/both?

[nakymaton]

Just to try to make a thread that's as complicated as the "age and favorite cowboy" thread, here's another attempt to sort out correlations.

Which do you like better, movie or book... or do you like them both equally?
Which character do you like better, Ennis or Jack... or do you like them both equally?

[Mikaela]

Mine is the "prefer movie to book, like both men equally" vote. I like the movie better for several reasons, not all of them high-brow and some outright shallow: The stronger early emphasis in the film on the love/romance angle through TS2 and other scenes,  the way the film presents both men as more loving and caring fathers than the book does, the captivating scenery and visuals throughout the film (skies, landscapes, colors....) that the story can't rival, the way the film has been expanded to let us get to know Lureen and Alma, among others, and the fact that both men look downright hot in the film, while in the story...not so much.

Don't get me wrong - I do love the story and am particularly impressed with its utterly non-sentimental attitude throughout and its ability to convey lifetimes of emotions and experiences in mere paragraphs; its clarity concerning the relationship in later years, -  the film wins marginally, not by miles.

As for Ennis and Jack - oh, I love them both, and equally. Well, sometimes they frustrate me both - and equally, although for differing reasons. Simply can't have the one without the other. 

[David]

I liked the book, but some of the scenes in the book disturbed me.   Jacks Dad peeing on him,  Ennis peeing in the sink of his trailer, ugh, so low class.      But otherwise the book was fine.   

The movie was visually spectacular.   And of course Jack and Ennis were far better looking than the characters in the book!   Yes, I'm shallow I guess.

I liked both Jack and Ennis equally if not for different reasons.

Where is the sequal?     

[nakymaton]

I guess I'll say how I voted now -- I voted that I couldn't decide on either. I love the story for its descriptive language: (The mountain boiled with demonic energy, glazed with flickering broken-cloud light, the wind combed the grass and drew from the damaged krummholz and slit rock a bestial drone. or He could smell Jack -- the intensely familiar odor of cigarettes, musky sweat and a faint sweetness like grass, and with it the rushing cold of the mountain.) And for its emotional restraint, for hiding its power in unemotional language. I love the movie for its landscapes and music and for the chance to see every little nuance in the characters through the subtle power of all the acting.

And I like both Ennis and Jack (and yes, am frustrated with both of them) for different reasons, too. (Jack is fascinating because I'm not quite sure what makes him tick; Ennis is fascinating because of all the stuff tangled up in him.) And yeah, there's the both-characters-are-really-hot factor, too.

[serious crayons]

Movie and Ennis. Partly for the aforementioned shallow reasons ... 

But also because I think the movie is more complex and interesting. And your question is a good one, Mel, because at least for me the two aren't unrelated: I think Ennis is more complex and interesting in the movie. (Read that sentence any way you like; I find Ennis more interesting than he is in the book, and I find Ennis more interesting -- ducks from hailstorm of tomatoes -- than Jack.)

We've talked about how different Story Ennis and Movie Ennis are, and about how Movie Ennis has more internalized homophobia. That's one of the main things I prefer about the movie (along with more plot development, cuter cowboys, etc.).

The story is about the damage that society's prejudices inflict on people's lives: Story Ennis is afraid to live with Jack for objective and true external reasons -- too dangerous. The movie is about the damage that society's prejudices inflict on people's souls: Ennis is afraid to live with Jack for subjective and false internal reasons -- too shameful.

That said, I do find the writing in the story beautiful. And I'll always be grateful to it for providing the framework for this fantastic movie.

[Penthesilea]

I voted for movie and Ennis (Hi Katherine, guess you're not surprised, are you  ?)

Though I love all four of them:

The book for it's unsentimental, mostly sparse language. And for the fact that despite it's sparseness (or just because of it), it's sometimes so poetical. And naturally for the storyline itself.

I love the movie more, because it's more complex. This is true for movie vs. book comparison as a whole and it's true for the single characters. They are portrayed and elaborated more intensely in the movie. The movie moves and haunts me more than the story.
And naturally for all those reasons others have already mentioned: cinematorgaphy, TS2 alone could make me vote the movie over the book, our boys are so hot in the movie, the many, many added remarkable dialogue lines (see the belonging polls: fav Jack-lines and fav Ennis-lines).


In love Jack for his caring, nurturing, lovable character. His liveliness, his courage to go for the things he wants, his dreaminess and his optimism. And for the fact that he loves Ennis so much. And movie-Jack for his blue eyes and *that* smile.

And Ennis: difficult to describe in a few recapitulaing words. Go and read the "I love everything Ennis"-thread. I agree with everything said there 

I just try:
I love his braveness, that he fights his inner demons every time he goes to see Jack. That he is able to love Jack despite his struggle.
He is kind, polite, lovable, also nurturing (like Jack). I love the way he adores his daughters. I love that he always tries to do the right thing, athough it would have been better in some regards, if he had acted otherwise (sticking to Alma eg). He is solid and reliable.

In general, I'm more into the quiet-but-strong-types. And for those who see him as a weak character: I disagree. I think it requires a lot of strength to repress ones own nature and longings for so many years. If only he had put his strength and all those efforts into something better.

Still waters run deep; this is very true for Ennis and I love him for that.

[serious crayons]

I agree with everything you say, Penth -- no surprise, hunh? 

I just want to add that I don't mean to give Jack short shrift. I fear I sometimes sound that way, but in fact I love him also. It's just that I know there is no shortage of others who will speak on his behalf, whereas the Ennis fan club is smaller and so has to work harder.

Though at this very moment, among those who state a preference, Ennis is ahead, 3 to 2! (How long will that last?)

[ednbarby]

I'm in the majority, looks like (for now) - I like the story and the movie equally and I like both men equally.  I'm glad I saw the movie without having read the story first, but I love Annie's writing and nowhere moreso than in this story.  I don't prefer either character - I just prefer the both of them together.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Wow, this was a great idea for a poll, and a real tough one to answer!

The truth is, my feelings are a bit more complicated than any of the answers.

I like the story and the film equally. If I may borrow a phrase from fanfiction, for me they are almost like alternative universes to each other.

I identify with Ennis in both story and film, but I like Ennis more in the story. I prefer Film Jack to Story Jack. Annie Proulx tells us some things about Story Jack that I'd prefer not to know. In the film, where we know only what we see on the screen before us, there is some open space between what I know about Jack and what I want to believe about Jack.

[ednbarby]

I identify with Ennis in both story and film, but I like Ennis more in the story. I prefer Film Jack to Story Jack. Annie Proulx tells us some things about Story Jack that I'd prefer not to know. In the film, where we know only what we see on the screen before us, there is some open space between what I know about Jack and what I want to believe about Jack.

Wow.  I couldn't agree with you more, here, Jeff.  I over-simplified my answer because I thought my reasons for liking both characters equally were too complicated to explain.  And then you came along and nailed it.  Thanks!    Story Ennis is less uptight than Movie Ennis, for sure.  And Movie Jack (thanks to Mr. Gyllenhaal primarily) is more vulnerable than Story Jack, who I find almost unnervingly aggressive.  Still, I enjoy the story just as much, but sometimes for different reasons than I enjoy the movie.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Wow.  I couldn't agree with you more, here, Jeff.  I over-simplified my answer because I thought my reasons for liking both characters equally were too complicated to explain.  And then you came along and nailed it.  Thanks!    Story Ennis is less uptight than Movie Ennis, for sure.  And Movie Jack (thanks to Mr. Gyllenhaal primarily) is more vulnerable than Story Jack, who I find almost unnervingly aggressive.  Still, I enjoy the story just as much, but sometimes for different reasons than I enjoy the movie.

Thanks, Barb! Ver' kind of you, ma'am! And "almost unnervingly aggressive" is a great way to describe Story Jack!

Actually, what I had in mind specifically about the difference between the Jacks is that Annie tells us, in the motel scene (as I interpret the text, anyway) that Jack has been having sex with other guys during the four years that he and Ennis were apart--and lies about it to Ennis. In the film we only see Jack's failed attempt to pick up Jimbo--and that leaves me free to believe that Movie Jack has not been having sex with other guys--and to believe that he doesn't "cheat" on Ennis until after the post-Del Mar divorce fiasco.

[serious crayons]

Story Ennis is less uptight than Movie Ennis, for sure.

That's interesting, Barb (and Jeff!). That's exactly why I prefer Movie Ennis!

Not that I'm generally drawn to uptight people in "real life." I just find Movie Ennis more complex and vulnerable and emotionally screwed up in a fascinating way.

I also prefer Movie Jack, for the record. Actually, I find the characters of Story Ennis and Story Jack less interesting, and less distinguishable from each other. Sure, they behave in different ways, make different choices, but the story characters aren't nearly as ying and yangy as their movie counterparts. Even their dialogue is more interchangable.

[ednbarby]

I agree, Katherine.  It's interesting - usually characters are fleshed out far better in the original text than in the movie, but this one was the exception.  I love the story so much because I love Annie's prose and the way she describes the landscape so vividly that you can see it, hear it and smell it.  But Ang Lee's direction is so lyrical, he (and Rodrigo) found the way to describe it perfectly, too.

Ah.  It's all good.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Ah.  It's all good.

To that, I can add nothing but a humble "Amen." 

[delalluvia]

Ennis in the short story was a lot less likeable than he was in the movie.  In the short story, while he is more expressive of his desire for Jack, he's otherwise self-absorbed, his fear makes him very selfish and he's a poor father.  In the movie, he's a lot better father, but his fear keeps him selfish in regards to Jack.

Jack I like in both the movie and the story.  He's still the one who suffers the most, opens up the most, is willing to risk the most, is the one who is still concerned for his son, regardless of the fact that he didn't want any kids in the first place.

I understand and can feel for Ennis, but Jack breaks my heart.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Ennis in the short story was a lot less likeable than he was in the movie.

Hunh?

In the short story, while he is more expressive of his desire for Jack, he's otherwise self-absorbed,

He isn't self-absorbed in the film?

his fear makes him very selfish and he's a poor father.  In the movie, he's a lot better father,

The film makers just chose to show him with the girls more than Annie Proulx does in the story. I don't think that necessarily means he's a better father in the film or a poorer father in the story.

The following line from the story, from the end of Ennis's Thanksgiving confrontation with Alma, has been pointed out as evidence of Story Ennis being a bad or uninterested father: "He didn't try to see his girls for a long time, figuring they would look him up when they got the sense and years to move out from Alma."

However, he clearly didn't follow through on that. By the time of his final camping trip with Jack, he's seeing the girls about once a month, and they're still minors, so presumably they haven't yet moved out from Alma. And he's just as conscientious about his child support in the story as in the film.

but his fear keeps him selfish in regards to Jack.

How is that different from the movie?

I understand and can feel for Ennis, but Jack breaks my heart.

With that I heartily agree--Jack breaks my heart--especially in the movie.

[delalluvia]

Hunh?  He isn't self-absorbed in the film?

He's moreso in the short story, IMO, but more expressive to Jack.  In the movie he's much more inhibited, so poor Jack gets very little emotionally out of their reunions.

The film makers just chose to show him with the girls more than Annie Proulx does in the story. I don't think that necessarily means he's a better father in the film or a poorer father in the story.

I think that says a lot actually.  The short story says 'never a vacation with her and the girls, his disinclination to step out and have any fun'.  In the story, Alma specifically mentions his lack of wanting to anything social as one of the reasons she left him.  In the movie, it's clear that he DOES take the girls for ice cream, he DOES take the family to a 4th of July picnic, he DOES take the girls on a church picnic.

The following line from the story, from the end of Ennis's Thanksgiving confrontation with Alma, has been pointed out as evidence of Story Ennis being a bad or uninterested father: "He didn't try to see his girls for a long time, figuring they would look him up when they got the sense and years to move out from Alma."

That's story Ennis.  Again, he's less likeable in the story.

However, he clearly didn't follow through on that  By the time of his final camping trip with Jack, he's seeing the girls about once a month, and they're still minors, so presumably they haven't yet moved out from Alma. And he's just as conscientious about his child support in the story as in the film.

True, but we don't know who initiated the contact.  Him or the girls.  Movie Ennis always shows care for his girls, never abandoning them, not even for Jack.

[serious crayons]

his fear keeps him selfish in regards to Jack.

How is that different from the movie?

Excuse me, but how is he selfish in either story or movie?

Clearly in some ways he would much prefer the sweet life with Jack over what he's "stuck with" in Riverton. His choice to stand it could fairly be described as mistaken, shortsighted, deluded, conformist, paranoid ... all kinds of negative things. But IMO it doesn't seem the least bit selfish.

[delalluvia]

Excuse me, but how is he selfish in either story or movie?

Clearly in some ways he would much prefer the sweet life with Jack over what he's "stuck with" in Riverton. His choice to stand it could fairly be described as mistaken, shortsighted, deluded, conformist, paranoid ... all kinds of negative things. But IMO it doesn't seem the least bit selfish.

I consider him very selfish.  He's a poor husband to Alma.  Just because he's not in love with her doesn't mean he should sit around home and mope and never take her out anywhere.  Jack is clearly a social creature and steps out with his wife regardless of whether he actually likes it or not.  It's for her you see and not just for him.

Ennis never brings home any fish for his family.  Ever.  Never even thinks to stop and buy some.

Ennis never offers to come down to Texas, save Jack a trip.  Jack always has to come to him.

Jack drives all the way up from Texas upon word of Ennis' divorce.  Ennis has the kids that weekend and doesn't even offer Jack the opportunity to stick around so he could see him later.  He just lets Jack drive all the way back.

Their relationship was always on Ennis' terms.  Always out in the country, in the cold weather, when he knows Jack is always cold.  The time Jack drives up to surprise him, Ennis is worried that someone driving by actually saw them just standing there talking.  There will be no hanging out in town even just for drinks because that's the way Ennis wants it.

I agree that fear drives him to it, but it's still selfishness.

[serious crayons]

Hmm ... Well, all I can say, Del, is that you and I react to the movie and/or story very differently.

Why did Jack put up with that jerk for 20 f'in years?

[delalluvia]

Hmm ... Well, all I can say, Del, is that you and I react to the movie and/or story very differently.

Why did Jack put up with that jerk for 20 f'in years?

For those of us who have dated 'Ennis' types, it's extremely understandable why Jack stayed with him for so long.  Plus, he only saw him 2-3 times a year and if you love someone, you know why they are the way they are and you deal with it because you love them.  Jack knew why Ennis acted the way he did.  That didn't make how Ennis acted good or right or less selfish. 

[Jeff Wrangler]

Thanks for the elaboration, Del (above posts).

I still disagree that Annie Proulx's treatment of Ennis's relationship with the girls indicates that he's a poorer father in the story than in the movie, but I appreciate you taking the time to elaborate.

And I agree that everything about the relationship with Jack always seems to be on Ennis's terms.

[serious crayons]

For those of us who have dated 'Ennis' types, it's extremely understandable why Jack stayed with him for so long.  Plus, he only saw him 2-3 times a year and if you love someone, you know why they are the way they are and you deal with it because you love them.  Jack knew why Ennis acted the way he did.  That didn't make how Ennis acted good or right or less selfish. 

Yeah, Del, I know people who've dated selfish people. And whenever I have talked to them about it, I have said (or at least thought): Forget about that guy (or gal), for god's sake. Get rid of him. He's bad news. And I have dated people like that, too, and that's pretty much what my friends have hinted or said outright (quite correctly) to me. To be honest, I lose a tiny bit of respect for the person -- whether myself or someone else -- who stays in one of those relationships for a long time when it's obvious it's just making them miserable.  Don't get me wrong, having been in that situation myself, I understand why people do it, despite the pain. But watching from the outside, frankly, gets tiresome. I'm not rooting for the couple to get together and work things out and live happily ever after. I'm assuming that's not possible. So I'm rooting for my friend to dump the other person.

The thing is, that's not how I respond to Jack's and Ennis' relationship at all. I can't begin tell you how much the opposite of that I feel. Otherwise, you can bet I wouldn't have been hanging around on these boards for five minutes, let alone six months.

[delalluvia]

Yeah, Del, I know people who've dated selfish people. And whenever I have talked to them about it, I have said (or at least thought): Forget about that guy (or gal), for god's sake. Get rid of him. He's bad news. And I have dated people like that, too, and that's pretty much what my friends have hinted or said outright (quite correctly) to me. To be honest, I lose a tiny bit of respect for the person -- whether myself or someone else -- who stays in one of those relationships for a long time when it's obvious it's just making them miserable.  Don't get me wrong, having been in that situation myself, I understand why people do it, despite the pain. But watching from the outside, frankly, gets tiresome. I'm not rooting for the couple to get together and work things out and live happily ever after. I'm assuming that's not possible. So I'm rooting for my friend to dump the other person.

The thing is, that's not how I respond to Jack's and Ennis' relationship at all. I can't begin tell you how much the opposite of that I feel. Otherwise, you can bet I wouldn't have been hanging around on these boards for five minutes, let alone six months.

Dunno what to tell you kat, the complexity of their relationship and the multi-layered characters are reasons I HAVE been hanging around.  The heartbreak of loving a man who is so chained by fear that he's selfish in his actions and desires, but you still love him because you know how conflicted he is, how it pains him, makes his life pure anguish at times, how alone he feels.  Your friends/family don't understand because they don't know him like you do.  So you hang on, trying to help, living with hope that he will see the light, come out of his closet, loosen his chains...but in the meantime, does that change how Ennis treats Jack or his family or heck, Cassie?

No.  It doesn't change how Ennis makes those people feel even when they know why he does what he does.  And that's destructive to their self-esteem as well and finally, unless the man is interested in coming out, freeing himself, the hope you/Jack/Cassie/Alma might have slowly dies.

The story is a tragedy all the way around.

[David In Indy]

In the past I prefered a book to a movie, but lately I enjoy reading the book and then seeing the movie.

Although quite often I find myself feeling disappointed by the movie after reading the book first.

 

And I most definately prefer Ennis to Jack.

But Jack is cute too!

[serious crayons]

Dunno what to tell you kat, the complexity of their relationship and the multi-layered characters are reasons I HAVE been hanging around.  The heartbreak of loving a man who is so chained by fear that he's selfish in his actions and desires, but you still love him because you know how conflicted he is, how it pains him, makes his life pure anguish at times, how alone he feels.  Your friends/family don't understand because they don't know him like you do.  So you hang on, trying to help, living with hope that he will see the light, come out of his closet, loosen his chains...but in the meantime, does that change how Ennis treats Jack or his family or heck, Cassie?

I totally agree with you, Del, about the complexity and multi-layered characters. Those are big reasons for me, too. And I agree with your assessment of what a frustrating relationship feels like from the inside. But what grabs me most about the movie is how much I care about Jack and Ennis as a couple, how powerfully moving their story is, how intensely I long for them to be together, how sad I feel for both.

As a viewer, I'm seeing their relationship from the outside, as friends and family do. Yet, unlike with my "real-life" friends in bad relationships, I'm not urging Jack to dump the guy and move on. I'm desperately wishing Jack will hang in there, Ennis will come around, and it will work out for them. Even without Ennis coming around (or out), what they had together during those 20 years seems beautiful to me.

[Amber]

I went straight down the middle ... I like the book and movie equally as well as Jack and Ennis equally.

I think the book and the movie offer me different things.  The movie brings the story to life - I can see and hear the people and witness their story first hand.  As for the book, it provides more detail in some areas but ultimately what I like most about it is how they incorporate Ennis's dreams about Jack.  While I still cry reading the story, for some reason knowing that Ennis dreams about Jack uplifts me a little.

As for the boys.  Each are attractive in different ways ... Jack is the easy choice because of those drop dead gorgeous eyes, but then Ennis has that sexy little smirk and "tough guy" aspect that I adore as well.  Personality wise I feel connected to both of them because I can see a little of myself in each character.  That definitely makes it hard to pick.

[Rayn]

I can't really say I prefer one man over the other unless you're talkin' just looks, 'cause there's so much more than looks to Ennis and Jack.  I like them equally, but prefer Ennis' look, however if asked whose character I'd like or "go for", It'd be Jack's.  He is so easy going and sweet and in touch with his feelings.  I would snap a guy like that up in a heartbeat!  Ennis has a good character too, loyal and tough and kind too, but there were too many problems that stood in the way of a good relationship with him... but then, we are looking at a fiction, a different time, place and set of lives, so I can't be too hard on Ennis, the character.  I think to ask "which do you prefer", Ennis or Jack, is too simplistic for me really and the movie and the book are two different forms of art. They are both great and stand on their own as remarkable achievements.

[ednbarby]

As for the boys.  Each are attractive in different ways ... Jack is the easy choice because of those drop dead gorgeous eyes, but then Ennis has that sexy little smirk and "tough guy" aspect that I adore as well.  Personality wise I feel connected to both of them because I can see a little of myself in each character.  That definitely makes it hard to pick.

I agree, Amber.  I think the genius of the characterizations, in the story and in the movie, is that they are so subtle and layered that we can all see bits of ourselves in both of them.  They are not caricatures, they are not stereotypes, they are not black and white or cut and dried in any way shape or form - they are fully realized human beings, flaws and all.  I think our loving them and this movie so much in spite of everything is maybe the thing that distinguishes us from those who feel little to nothing for them or this movie after watching it.  We want to connect to the characters we see on the screen and read on the page in a very real and intimate way - we want to discover a part of ourselves we hadn't thought about or faced before by watching movies and reading stories.  Those other people just want to escape from themselves.

[nakymaton]

I want to defend the complexity of the story for a bit here. I would say that the movie brings the story to life, and that it fills in some of the gaps in a very spare story. But less complex? I would say that, for something so short, the story has a lot of complexity packed into it.

I agree that Jack's character is much more likeable without the implication that he'd been lying to Ennis about his relationships with other guys. Movie-Jack is a great deal more romantic of a character than story-Jack. Ennis, too, is more likeable, though I think that's as much because Heath Ledger just has such an amazing smile, so you can see the love trying to peek out from behind all of Ennis's inner conflicts.

But I think the story characters are complex as well. Jack is intriguing, because for most of the story I got the impression of him having sex with other guys, lying about that to Ennis, shooting eagles, so forth and so on. And then at the end the revelations start... the flashback to the dozy embrace, the twelve-hundred-mile drive for nothing, wanting his ashes scattered on Brokeback Mountain, and then to drive it all home, the pair of shirts. And suddenly I wanted to go back and try to figure out if there were any hints about the nature of this guy further back, to somehow reconcile the guy who told his father that Ennis was going to move up there and help lick the ranch into shape with the guy who claims not to have had sex with other men. I never quite managed to do it, and the movie gives us a different character, but still... I think the Jack of the story is a complex character in his own right.

And as for Ennis in the story... well, I read the story as mostly being Ennis's point of view (though there are some brief moments when we learn about Alma's or Jack's thoughts). And the strange contrasts in the language, the beautiful language used to describe the mountains and the coarse language used to talk about the men, seem to be part of the development of the character. It's as if Ennis has locked away the mushy and romantic parts of himself, and so we learn about this very romantic story in very unemotional language. And to me, that contrast, between the things going on in the story and the language used to describe them, is very powerful. (Also a fascinating literary technique; I learned about the story from a friend who thinks a lot about how writers use language for particular effects, and it seemed to me that the story illustrated a lot of the things she had been trying to explain to me.) So anyway, for me it was the very unemotional nature of the story that convinced me that Ennis's conflict was primarily internal, even if he spoke mostly about fears of physical attacks.*

(An additional note, about the looks of the guys. I don't generally picture characters when I read books, even if the author goes to great lengths to provide a physical description of them. And added to that, I didn't read the story in the New Yorker... I read it on-line back in October, and the web page had a promo picture of Heath and Jake playing Ennis and Jack. The guys weren't labeled, so I went through a couple readings of the story actually thinking that Heath was playing Jack and Jake was playing Ennis... Heath's got curlier hair in the pictures, and in the picture I had seen, Jake looked particularly lanky. I got the pair of them sorted out very quickly, when I went searching for more info about the movie. But I never pictured Jack with buck teeth... I always pictured both men as attractive, when I pictured them at all. )

* (Yeah, I know, Annie Proulx is mean to her characters in general, and doesn't seem interested in letting the reader empathize with them. Story-Ennis and story-Jack are about the most sympathetic of her characters that I've read. And Ang Lee tends to be gentler, to let the reader care about even very strange or unpleasant people, like the characters in The Ice Storm, for instance. So some of those differences between the artists come out in the book versus the movie, I guess. But I still saw a core of characters I could care about in the story, even if lots of other people didn't see them.)

[Helen]

I preferred the movie - and I love both 'our' boys....! 

[JT]

I like both the movie and the book, and like Jack a little more than Ennis.

I think the book and the movie compliment each other.  The core of the story is the same, but each has slight differences.  By experiencing both, I feel that I understand more about the whole story.

I like Jack because he's my ideal man.  Warm, caring, nuturing, optimistic and yet still manly and strong.  He's also brave, and if he finds his true love, faithful.  Of course, he is also handsome (thanks to Mr. Gyllenhaal).  Beautiful eyes, perfect nose and a charming crooked lips (anyone notice one side of his bottom lip drops lower when he talks or smiles?)

I like Ennis also because he's a loving father and he's reliable.  He's that "tough guy" that most of us adore.  He also cares although he has trouble showing it.

Over all, I give Jack an edge over Ennis because he is someone that can make me happy and happy to be with while Ennis would break my heart like he broken Jack's.