Rewatchables Reference

• Wesley: The opening scene – Jack and Ennis checking each other out at the trailer. 'There's something so electric about it.'
• Bill: Jack and Ennis's reunion – he gets the postcard, comes in, Alma says 'do you think your friend will want a coffee?' 'He's from Texas, he doesn't drink coffee.' Then: the kiss that Alma sees through the screen door. Also: the campfire tire-iron story; 'I wish I knew how to quit you' breakdown; Ennis finding the shirt in Jack's closet.
• Bill: The tent scene – 'my daughter had no idea what was coming. She was like, wait, why are they cuddling?'
• Also: the double dysfunctional Thanksgiving scenes; Jack telling Ennis 'twist' and 'you bush sure found a way to pass the time up there' (Randy Quaid); Anne Hathaway's entire performance.

• How young all the soon-to-be-famous actors were – Williams, Hathaway, Kate Mara, Linda Cardellini, David Harbour, Anna Faris all pre-fame.
• The fact it was considered so controversial at the time now seems quaint.

• The score – unanimously incredible/perfect.
• Western-adjacent setting; the quietness and patience of the filmmaking.
• The 'sneaky hot cast' – all those actors went on to massive careers.
• Wesley: At 49, sees it as 'a profound adult movie about love beyond sex.' Different from his 2005 reaction.
• Ledger's smoking – Bill rates it ~9.5/10. 'The only way that guy knows how to smoke.'
• Double post-coital smoking scene highlighted.

• How controversial it was considered at the time – agents called it 'career suicide for a straight actor.'
• The 2005 Oscar sabotage campaign and Crash winning Best Picture.

• Bill and Wesley: The final shot – Ennis in his trailer with the shirt and the postcard of 'Brokeback Mountain', window showing the road. 'One of the great final shots.'
• Also: Fireworks behind Ennis after he beats up two guys on July 4th.

• 'Sweet Melissa' by the Allman Brothers.
• The ending when Ennis says 'Jack, I swear' and the score kicks in with hard guitar.

• Ennis and Jack making out openly in the driveway after 4 years apart – risky/unrealistic for the setting and era.
• Jack driving 14 hours round trip 3-4 times a year without his wife questioning it.

No pick – acting was universally excellent. Wesley specifically noted there's nothing to criticize.

• Wesley and Bill: Heath Ledger had two of the best 6-7 male acting performances of the 21st century ('Brokeback Mountain' and The Joker).
• Wesley: The movie works because 'there is no kissing in this movie that is ornamental. Every kiss matters.' Also invented the 'Would this movie be improved if a character had a dog?' award – 'Ennis absolutely needed a border collie.'

• Gus Van Sant originally tried with Matt Damon (who said he couldn't do 'a gay cowboy movie' after Ripley).
• Joel Schumacher was attached with Ed Norton and potentially Colin Farrell.
• Mark Wahlberg met with Ang Lee but declined – 'creeped out by the script.'
• Joaquin Phoenix claims he was never asked but would've done it instantly.
• Also considered: Josh Hartnett.

• David Harbour (winner) – pre-Stranger Things fame.
• Also: Randy Quaid; Anna Faris; Anne Hathaway's father-in-law actor; Linda Cardellini.

• Tent scene took 13 takes. Ledger nearly broke Gyllenhaal's nose in a kissing scene.
• Michelle Williams sprained her knee in the snow scene.
• Ledger invented Ennis's limp. Annie Proulx accidentally signed 'to Ennis' instead of 'to Heath.'
• Anne Hathaway was sent the script to read for Alma but insisted on playing Lureen instead.
• A deleted sequence of Jack and Ennis helping hippies get a car out of a river took three days to shoot; everyone hated it.
• First major film released simultaneously on DVD and digital download.
• Foreign titles: French/Italian/Portuguese added 'The Secret of'; Hungarian version was 'Beyond Friendship.'

• Heath Ledger: This movie – 'anything felt possible after.' Combined with The Joker, he becomes one of the great what-if acting careers.
• Ang Lee: Bill and Wesley say here over Life of Pi or Crouching Tiger.
• Gyllenhaal's apex is later (Prisoners era). Michelle Williams's traumatized-wife apex is 'Manchester by the Sea'.

Discussed but not formally picked – this is Ang Lee's movie through and through.

Would have played the Randy Quaid character (Joe Aguirre). Bill: 'PSH would have been incredible.'

• Bill: Jack driving 14 hours round trip. Where was David Harbour when Jack needed him?
• Wesley: The timeline can be confusing – years pass without clear markers.

• Did Lureen know about the gay bashing or not? Hathaway shot it both ways and Ang Lee edited them together – she still doesn't know.
• Bill: Jack had moved on to David Harbour. 'But where was Harbour? Did he come to the parents? Did he try to scatter the ashes?'

Wesley invented the 'Would this movie be improved if a character had a dog?' award. 'Ennis absolutely needed a border collie.'

Bill: Give it to the movie – Best Picture, which it should have won. 'One of the toughest ones because they could go Heath Ledger or Ang Lee.'

Wesley: The two shirts. 'They sold on eBay in 2006 for $101,000.'

• Bill: Follow your heart. Wesley: 'When you're in love, be in love.'
• Annie Proulx line: 'If you can't fix it, you got to stand it.'
• Ennis: 'When you got nothing, you don't need nothing.'

• Wesley: Moonlight.
• Bill: 'The Dark Knight' – 'to get both sides of Ledger.'

Heath Ledger. Bill: 'Has to be.' Wesley: 'Heath Ledger wins it. This plus The Joker – he becomes one of the most beloved actors of this century, but also one of the great what-if acting careers.'

Craig (first time in the new studio): Deeply affected by the film.