"As a tragic evocation of the costs of homophobia -- not just to closeted gay people but also to their families and loved ones --
Brokeback Mountain is indeed a
watershed movie, an airing of taboos and secrets that can only be seen as welcome and deeply humanist. (And, in its depiction of the violence that threatens Jack and Ennis should their relationship come to light, it's a sensitive, empathic homage to those who have died of hatred, including Matthew Shepard, who seems to haunt the production from his Wyoming grave.)"