Brokeback Mountain

At a preview for Brokeback Mountain, women throughout the audience gasped with pleasure when cowboys played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger started a fond embrace. Was this going to be a Mulholland Drive for ladies? Or simply a gay Western? Neither label will suffice, but this tale of a love affair between a ranch hand and a rodeo cowboy, and their subsequent attempts to forge a life together and apart, is a perfect match for Ang Lee. The director fully commits to his characters, refusing to paint them into any predetermined corners, allowing their stories to unfold gracefully, passionately, and toward not-so-inevitable climaxes. Larry McMurtry adapted the screenplay from a stunning story by Pulitzer Prize winner E. Annie Proulx, originally published in the New Yorker. 612-375-7600; www.walkerart.org