I know there are many threads here comparing and contrasting the film and story in many different ways. But, I thought it would be interesting to focus specifically on the question of McMurtry and Ossana rearranging elements from Proulx's story... and to examine how the meanings of those elements change and shift as a result. I recall McMurtry and Ossana saying that they tried to incorporate almost every sentence and every description into the movie in some way (with some notable exceptions of course). So, I think there are lots of avenues for discussion here.
I'll start by saying that, since the weekend viewings/chats of BBM the question of Ennis's phrase "if you can't fix it you've got to stand it" keeps coming to my mind. In the film he says this in the middle of the arch of the film and, of course he says it outloud directly to Jack. This is radically different from the story, where it is the last line... and it is not said to anyone. It's presented as being more a part of Ennis's thought process.
In the film, because of its placement and it being part of Ennis's overall conversation with Jack about the cow and calf operation, his father, Earl, etc.... it makes it seem like this phrase "if you can't fix it, you've got to stand it"... is kind of specifically about his frustrations about not being able to have a full/ fulfilling relationship with Jack, complete with living together. Essentially, the phrase seems pretty specifically focused on the issue of sexuality and lifestyle.
In the story, the line seems much more sweeping... it seems to be an overall statement about a lifetime of regrets and hard choices. In the story in includes sexuality and lifestyle frustrations... but it also seems to be largely about the loss of Jack (Ennis really can do nothing to fix the death of Jack... so he must stand it). There's more room for actual action or change if you think about the phrase only with regard to something like lifestyle.
To me, it seems to be a radical difference infused into the movie simply by rearrangement. It seems McMurtry and Ossana were very careful to directly insert the line into the film, but it still comes across so differently.
I'd be curious to hear if other folks sense this same kind of change/difference based on rearrangements of story elements in the film.