At the Movies: Powerful Brokeback Mountain is no coyboy movie

Breaking the stereotypes of same-sex attraction, Brokeback Mountain is a sprawling and desolate saga of intertwined lives and loves that deserves every critical accolade it has received.

That the central couple (Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal) happen to be men tends to become incidental as one invariably begins to identify — and sympathize — with their characters.

Introduced as young-buck cowboys seeking summer sheep-tending jobs in Wyoming, they end up more than just clinching during a gruff grope one night inside a tent atop cold, cold Brokeback Mountain.

As director Ang Lee makes abundantly clear, it's an act born not of lust, but of loneliness.

"This is a one-shot thing we got going on here," Ledger's character grunts monosyllabically the next morning.

"Nobody's business but ours," replies Gyllenhaal's character.

Ledger: "You know I ain't queer."

Gyllenhaal: "Me neither."

But they are, and remain, buddies of the very closest kind, meeting regularly at the mountain for 20 years after going their separate ways, marrying and having kids.

The meetings are effectively extensions of their lives, in which they hunt deer, cook the meat on open fires and drink hooch — the things that regular buddies would do anyway.

Director Lee plays down the physical aspect, instead underlining the intense friendship between the two men.

Naturally, there are turning points that involve the wives and children, precipitating a powerful and fascinating buildup to the movie's inevitable payoff.

Theme aside, the acting is simply outstanding, from Ledger's brooding intensity, to Gyllenhaal's blend of sensitivity and machismo, to Michelle Williams as a devastated wife, to Anne Hathaway in a decidedly grown-up performance as a flirty rodeo rider who marries one of the duo.

Combine the performances and story line with the backdrop of sweeping vistas, and you end up with a riveting movie that is neither a cowboy yarn nor anything remotely lascivious.

The flick in a nutshell: When it goes down in history, most likely with not just a few Oscars, it will be regarded as a breakout movie of our times; a benchmark achievement.

Brokeback Mountain, rated R — presumably for isolated moments of passion and the kind of language that cowboys (gay or otherwise) might use when out of earshot in the movie's mountainous wilderness — is scheduled to play through this week at Marco Movies.